Monday, April 6, 2015

Phase One complete (sort of)

I have a two phase plan of what I want my gaming life to be.  I've been window shopping for just the right equipment for phase one and I've finally done something about it.

So I took my tax refund money and bought a laptop and TV this weekend (along with another item which you'll find out about later).  I was able to walk out with the laptop but I had to order the TV.  It should come in on Thursday.  I'm thinking of taking Friday off so I can stay home and play games on the new TV to see if it makes a difference.

While I know I could have probably gotten a better desktop computer for the same price as my laptop it would actually cost more in the end because I would have to buy a new monitor as well.  I'm still using a 17" fat monitor for my current system.  At least with buying a laptop the "monitor" is included.

I ended up getting a Lenovo i7 processor with 8GB RAM + 2GB video memory and 1T hd.  I know there's better laptops out there, but that was the best I could afford.  It's also a touch screen and the screen can flip around too, but I don't think I'll use that function.  I got a 55" Vizio smart TV which I can't wait to get.  I could hook up my laptop to the TV and play PC games on a very big screen.  I can't wait to give it a shot.

It's Windows 8.1 and it's taken some getting use to it.  I'm still having problems trying to find everything I'm looking for but I'm learning.  I didn't have any problems getting it connected to my home network but I had big problems getting it connected to the internet.  I was almost about to give up and call my brother dain to come over and help, but I thought I would give it one more try.  I got everything to work and I was able to get the virus software and Office 365 installed.  I then spent a lot of time remove programs that it came with that I don't want.  You would not believe all the stuff that was one there.

I really wish I could tell you about the other thing that I bought, but unfortunately I want to have a big reveal with that one and I'm not quite ready to say anything on that just yet.  Maybe by this weekend.

Even though I know I didn't get the best or latest stuff I do still feel like I've taken a huge step forward in joining the modern world.  So, I didn't get a 4k TV or a supped up computer.  At least I no longer have to use a computer that can barely run Windows XP (which is no longer supported) or take up to 30 minutes to boot up and start everything.  I'm not late to the game because I've been nostalgic for the good old days of cassette tapes and VHS movies.  I'm late because I haven't had the money to join the 21st century of electronics.  Now if only I had the money to do something about my phone.

3 comments:

Zenra Nukenin said...

I don't mean to sound picky, but why didn't you just use your new TV as a monitor for a new desktop? I'm sure it's because your desk and TV are in different rooms, or so far apart that you couldn't get an HDMI cable to reach. Yeah, that's it.

Ah, the joys of buying and reconfiguring a new Windows computer. There really is too much bloatware preinstalled from the factory. Up until I bought my gaming laptop (it uses Win7), I've been able to format the hard drive, and just install the last decent OS Microsoft made (XP), but I'm afraid that those days are over. I'm pretty sure that I'll just have to bite the bullet with my next PC, and hammer Microsoft's newest "Metro" OS into something useable.

Speaking of which: Can't you download Windows 10 for free? If that's true, do you think you will?

Playing PC games on my laptop through my TV is what I do too. Just connect it with an HDMI, plug in my wired 360 controller (often with some help from Xpadder), and it's just like playing a console. That's partly why I don't feel compelled to get the new consoles.

Which is what I would do if I got the new Battlefront. I'm hesitant to say that I will though because
- Battlefront II was such such a huge disappointment to me
- Battlefront (the original) and Chrome Hounds really taught me how awful it is when a game's servers are taken down (and those games had some rudimentary single player), so Zenra doesn't play online-only games.
- It's an extremely rare instance that I'll make an exception and knowingly buy an EA game.

I'd much rather play the original Battlefront, but if I'm going to do that I would have to either
-pull out the old Xbox out of storage, and hook it all back up, or
-hook my 360 back up to the internet, and download the newest system update so that I might be able to download the emulator needed to play Battlefront. Of course, that would mean starting the game over from the beginning, but I feel like that would be more of a positive than a negative.

Well, I think I did a pretty good job at keeping my bitching and moaning to a minimum this time. Believe it or not, I had a lot more that I decided to keep to myself. Good luck with your new toys, and I look forward to hearing about your "other item".

Pengwenn said...

There's another reason why I wanted a laptop instead of a desktop computer . . . but I can't tell you about that yet.

I probably will hook my laptop up to the TV to play games but I don't have a wired controller to use (only wireless)

I'm not sure the free downloads for Wins10 is starting yet. I think it does later this year. I you have a year to do it in so I might wait to see reviews and any bugs are fixed before I upgrade.

PogueMoran said...

Hope all is well Pengwenn. Have you checked out the new battlefront trailer? Looks good. Hope you join the club and get an xbox one soon. I heard skin is going to buy one for it.