Blade Edge

Transposed from Gaiiden’s Scroll

Howdy folks. I’ve kinda been in hibernation the past week and a half or so. I had a week vacation from coaching and since that’s the most time restricting occupation I have (GDnet and GI for the most part can be done whenever I like so long as it gets done ya know?) I decided to make it more like a real vacation and just slack off. Well, okay I didn’t really slack… sure I slept in a bit later but other than that I was out of the house doing stuff – barely on the computer at all if you can imagine that.

No, I didn’t think you could. But that’s ok. I got out for some fresh air – something I need every now and then. I came back today, but then I’m going away again tomorrow and of course on the 4th – then I’ll be back for good for a while.

So what’s cookin?? Well, before anyone jumps ship because there’s no picture…

Okay it’s not a dev shot. Sue me, I promise I’ll have some of those soon. No folks, this is my new 20″ widescreen monitor. Back in the beginning of March I made a post about getting a new monitor to hook up to a DX10 card sometime this fall because that’s when I would be upgrading to Vista since that’s when they were supposed to be releasing Service Pack 1.

Well, besides the fact that now they’re saying SP1 for Vista might not be here until early ’08 [bit-tech], I’ve come to the realization that not only have I no need or desire to upgrade to Vista in the first place, I have no need for a DX10 card either. Seriously. Why the hell am I going to drop a big chunk of change for a DX10 card when I barely play any games (besides FSX) that give my DX9 card a run for it’s money. And I don’t even play FSX enough to warrant the purchase either. Heck I won’t even be developing for the card.

So while I’ve realized I don’t need Vista or DX10, I haven’t convinced myself yet that I don’t need a third monitor. (hence the somewhat coming to my senses part). It’s gotta be a personality thing. I just love the idea of being surrounded by monitors. Kevin Smith’s “command center” in Die Hard 4 (awesome movie, btw) was so awesome. The link in the previous post I linked to earlier? Wow. Heavenly.

Now, since I’m just getting a cheap card to help run this setup, I was hoping to splurge on a bigger monitor, but I did the measurements and a 22″ widescreen won’t fit in between my two 17 inchers pushed all the way apart. The 20″ (image above) barely does. The end result is that the new card I’m buying is going to power the two 17 inchers while my high-end card I currently have will support the 20″ alone, since that’s the one I’ll be using for all my gaming and video watching anyways.

This is the cheapest card I could find that has 2 DVI ports. not bad for $70. That brings my grand total to around $340. Plus tax and shipping – prob closer to $380. Not bad, considering the first 17″ Samsung monitor I bought back in like ’03 cost me nearly $600. There’s dropping prices for you! I think this will have to be my birthday gift to myself this year

Sweet. I’ll have to order it quick so I can take advantage of the $15 rebate for the video card as well. But I got a few days to ponder this latest decision first. Well, I’m going back into my hole for two more days. Laterz.