Topic: My setup is an unholy mess, but it finally works.

[Cobra951]

Well, it's not pretty, but I finally managed to hook up everything I care about right now.  I'm in dire need of some real computer desks.  But I'll probably live with things this way for a while.  I may even grow to like it.  I need an audio switcher.  Right now, the output from everything's speakers ends in a (female) stereo mini-jack.  I plug the speakers' (male) mini-plug into whatever I want to hear.  You can see the VGA switchbox (next to the left speaker/rum & OJ), which unfortunately adds some ghosting to the (analog) signal.  The good news is that the digital DVI output from the NVidia card in the gaming PC (right) works like a charm.  So I use the monitor to switch from analog (cheap workhorse PC & Xbox 360) to digital (game PC).  Awesome crisp image through DVI.

I was having some misgivings about the performance of this LCD monitor, but after seeing the NVidia desktop display, plus Doom 3 and Psychonauts, I can say for sure that the monitor performs very well.  It benefits from a negative gamma adjustment, something the integrated Intel chipset on the cheap box doesn't allow.

I've seen a fancy switchbox ($100) which allows you to use  multiple PCs with a single mouse, keyboard, monitor, and speaker set.  I may look into that, although the price is steep.

[sirean_syan]

I'm not sure if I could deal with the keyboard in a drawer, but it's cool that you managed to cram all that into such a nice space without looking too cluttered (at least the shelves).

We have one of those switches at work to switch between the storage and production PC. It works fairly well from what little I used of it. You could actually switch between the computers with a keyboard command, but I could never remember exactly what it was. it was something like pressing Home twice, then page up and down being the cycling keys.

[Quemaqua]

I consider myself to be pretty talented when it comes to making use of small spaces, but that's impressive.  Doesn't look too cozy, but I've had plenty of circumstances where I wasn't too cozy with my PC and console setups either.  You're making due with what you've got, and that's what counts!  It's not a bad little spot.

[idolminds]

I think I officially have the smallest and messiest computer area on earth.

[Antares]

That actually doesn't look all that bad considering the sheer volume of stuff you have hooked up there and the fact that the desk wasn't made for anything resembling what you've got going there.


How does the NGC look on the LCD?  Mine looks miserable.

[Cobra951]

It's going through a capture card in the PC next to it, so it's filtered and brightness/saturation tweaked, and PC-driver-level grayscale tweaked.  It's . . . OK.  Nothing like a good tube TV, though.

Edit:  Sort of . . . like this!  Only better in motion.

[Quemaqua]

I doubt I'd ever even notice something like that.  I'm so used to playing games through crappy TVs and such that this kind of thing doesn't even register.  I can tell the difference if I'm looking for it, but I'm usually not.  Heh, I used to play Secret of Mana on a 7" b&w TV.  Beat that for low-fidelity gaming!

Also note that NGC was the generally accepted abbreviation for the Neo Geo Color.  It makes me sad that probably nobody else remembers that.

[Cobra951]

7" B&W?  I thought only old-timers like me got to suffer through B&W TV full-time.  (I remember when color sets finally took off around the mid-60s.)  I had a 13" B&W GE TV in my room.  VHF channels 2-13 on the knob tuner.  UHF was a brand-new thing, not for kiddie TVs.

The thing about CRTs is that they have this enormous luminance range and grey-scale definition.  LCDs, particularly the cheap TN type which seems to have taken over the affordable market, don't compare.  (The PVA type is significantly better for color/shade purity, but suffers from higher cost and latency.)  So it becomes a game of choosing the black-to-white range that best suits whatever you're doing at the moment.  This problem is nearly nonexistent on my better PC, connected through DVI-D and with video card & driver software capable of negative gamma.  But I have the capture card in the cheapie box. and I have to mute the brightest whites to get decent resolution in the dark shades.

[Raisa]

  it really reminds me of my previous office set up.   Looks pretty cool, though won't the mirror be disconcerting?

I'm used to traveling with my office and setting up wherever i go.  My suitcase is usually filled with office stuff and a printer/conference call machine and then i just take a few clothes here and there, toiletry bag and minimal makeup.

once i had this as my desk



and this as my chair

[poomcgoo]

Also note that NGC was the generally accepted abbreviation for the Neo Geo Color.  It makes me sad that probably nobody else remembers that.

When I first started posting on IGN, I posted on the Gamecube board.  This was well before the thing even came out, but they called the the NGCCB for a while.  Eventually it changed to the GCNCB for that very reason, so you're not alone!

[Cobra951]

  it really reminds me of my previous office set up.   Looks pretty cool, though won't the mirror be disconcerting?

Heh.  I sit low enough, and the monitor is tall enough that I don't see myself all the time, unless I crane my neck.  Once I get a better chair, that might be a problem.

[Quemaqua]

When I first started posting on IGN, I posted on the Gamecube board.  This was well before the thing even came out, but they called the the NGCCB for a while.  Eventually it changed to the GCNCB for that very reason, so you're not alone!

My goodness... IGN did something I can appreciate?  I'll be damned.