[Farrah Barry]

That looks like a sweet monitor. LED backlighting is always nice to have.

DarkOne, I have the ASUS VH242H which is absolutely fantastic. This one looks like a slightly updated version of it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236102

It does have speakers, but the extra money that you're paying for them is fairly negligible. I thought the same thing when I got it (that I wouldn't need built-in speakers), but they've actually come in very handy. Since I'm at University I can't really lug my 5.1 speakers around with me, so it's nice to have to option of having something to play sound through that aren't earbuds, even if the sound quality is tinny at best.

The BenQ has a higher contrast ratio and is a little bigger, though the ASUS has a faster response time. It probably just comes down to if you want the extra 3" for $30 more.

Also, something to keep in mind is that Newegg used to have a very strict return policy with monitors where it had to have a minimum of 8 dead pixels to be eligible for return. Their policy doesn't seem to reference it anymore, so they may have nixed it as it was kind of unfair.

[adame]

My recommendation would be to get a 1920x1200 monitor instead.

[Alex [AK]]

Going a long with Softnerd, this seems to be a heck of a deal right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047

[Averielle Garcia]

Wow...kind of wish I needed a monitor right now...

[Sarah Knight]

This is a great deal. I do wonder where the speakers are though. Also if I use HDMI I should be able to not push sound to it correct? Unless I misunderstand how HDMI handles both sound and video.

How is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236154? It appears to be the same minus having DisplayPort on it.

[Cathrin Hummel]

HDMI transmits both video and sound, but you can set it in the control panel to not handle sound. The one you linked also has a higher contrast ratio.

[koumba]

CoolerMaster wants me to send them my cpu fan since it is making some very bad rattling noise. I have the Hyper 212 Plus. I am guessing it will be a poor idea to run this without a fan on that heatsink so should I bother RMAing it or just pick up http://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Gentle-Typhoon-120mm-25mm/dp/B001Q6RUVO/ref=pd_bxgy_pc_text_y and replace it myself and not bother with the rma?

[Russell Davies]

Do they just want the fan, or the whole heatsink? Shipping it back would cost almost as much as the value of the fan. I replaced the single stock fan on several Hyper 212s with pairs of http://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Kaze-Jyuni-SY1225SL12SH-120x25mm-110CFM/dp/B000W7P4XE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1365959892&sr=1-1&keywords=SY1225SL12SH.

I haven't tried it with a 212, but I ran an http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 passively on a Q6600 for a couple months before I got around to fixing the fan. It depends on the load you put on the cpu. I could still fold on 2 cores (constant 50%+ cpu load) with a passive cooler without going ove 70C.

[Barbequtie]

They just want the fan back. It appears prepaid bu them for the shipping. I don't have my CPU overclocked and at most I put a load on it by playing Guild Wars 2 but even then I don't think I saw the temps get too high.

[Lori Joe]

That sounds like a free fan, so I'd probably go for it. While you wait for the new one, you could test running passive.

[Chris Guerin]

My computer randomly just turned off completely. I turned the power supply box off and then back on in order for it to start back up. Any suggestions? I just got this computer and it doesn't seem to be running hot.

[sophie]

Did you notice a power surge or anything for a second or were you doing anything that may cause your PC to draw more power than usual (such as playing a game)?

[J.P loves]

I'm only playing Warcraft. Nothing else is running as far as processes go. Sometimes my lights will flicker in my room. But it has never caused anything to shut off before.

Edit: I do have my mac running as well though if that might be a problem?

Edit 2: no problems thus far after the first occurrence.

[Suzy Santana]

Really the only thing you can do is a stress test, I'd suggest one for your GPU as that'll also stress your power connections and PSU.

[Erika Ellsworth]

It seems as though my idea to throw $1200 into a desktop two years ago wasn't the brightest of things to do. Found out I need a rather good laptop for college, and there's no way of avoiding having to get it. http://www.eng.ufl.edu/students/career-resources/computer-requirements/. Any ideas on what I should get?

Did a bit of looking around on Newegg and narrowed it down to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740%204802&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=32%7C34-215-660%5E34-215-660-TS%2C34-312-438%5E34-312-438-TS&percm=34-215-660%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B34-312-438%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24. What do you guys think? I think I'm leaning towards the Asus because of the processor and lower price.

[Emily Jeffs]

The requirements there are nothing special at all.

1. Set up desktop in dorm room/apartment

2. Get any old ratty laptop

3. Set up http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx/https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/ on your desktop

4. ????

5. Profit! enjoy the power of your desktop anywhere with an Internet connection

Also, there's no asus in your link, only crappy Acer.

[x a million...]

Never thought of doing it that way.

Still think I might swing for the Acer though. It's not too much and I'll have the money to get it, so why not?

[Harry Leon]

Because Acer is a horrible, horrible company that's so horrible and has such a bad reputation that they don't have a business sector because no company is stupid enough to buy their computers.

[Laura Hicks]

If you're giving away money I'll take some...

[i grind hard]

I can't believe I never thought of doing this. When I get my desktop set up I'm going to have to try this for next semester.

[Latino HeaT]

See, this is why I build my own systems. I know absolutely nothing about brands.

What about that Lenovo? Is it any good?

[james reed]

Yep, this is why I carry the lightest ultrabook I can get when traveling for business and don't care too much about processing power. All I really need it to do is run an RDP (Remote Desktop) client so I can use my workstation back at my office. I don't really even need any software installed on the ultrabook aside from the OS.

[Jessica Raven]

Mhm. SSH tunneled RDP and SFTP for files. Fast enough and plenty secure. Of course for home (versions of Windows) users, they'll have to use the likes of TeamViewer or LogMeIn since they can't do RDP and no way would I recommend the horrible performance of VNC over anything but wired LAN.

[Chase McAbee]

So I've been thinking about getting an external drive to store my games on and buying an SSD for my desktop to run the OS and a few select programs and games. Will running games off an external drive hurt the performance at all? I'd like an external so I can use it on my laptop as well rather than just get an HDD and SSD for my desktop. Anyone do this or have a reason not to?

[GRAEME]

If there is an esata port or usb 3.0, it shouldn't effect performance much. However, at slower speeds like usb 2.0, it can.

I'd advise to buy the drive separate from the external enclosure, but thats just my preference.