yeah, I know they are. My plan is the 17" one with everything up as high as it will go for about $2000 (debating on tuner card, but will probably get it).

ew, I hate the 17in models. The offset thumbpad is the stupidest idea I've ever seen on a laptop (especially since it is offset to the left, alienating a majority of [right-handed] people)

yeah, but I want the full size keyboard really (and not through USB).

Also, get on a laptop, put your fingers on where you will type, and put your thumbs on the touchpad, kind of natural, isn't it?

...no, no actually, its not. It is exceedingly uncomfortable to strench my arm across my body to get to the touch pad. The more natural "resting" position is offset to the right-side of the laptop for right-handed people (like me )

RIGHT HANDED PEOPLE FTW!!!1111oneone!!1

(sorry, I had to )

yeah, I know it is more natural for the right side, but your thumbs are almost perfect for using the touchpad when you are typing. Take it as you wish (and you are not buying it, I am).

yeah, I know, but if your thumb is on the pad, then what pushes the buttons? (as in for drag-and-drop stuff)

Of course, I might also go with a boutique vender so that I can get a beet more of a beefy video card without having to upgrade to a stupidly expensive "gaming notebook" (@Tier 1 OEMS: why can't I get a well-rounded machine??? WHY!?!?!)

yeah, true, but mine will be a beast. I looked online, and to do what I want to do, I have to special order it anyways (the Vista license doesn't allow you to virtualize the Home versions), so I have to pay for the business of Ultimate version (leaning for the Ultimate so I have the media center stuff also). I plan to use the KVM for Windows if I need it for some reason.

Well, I couldn't cancel vista monday because it already had a tracking number, but newegg just said to refuse the package when UPS delievered it and tell them to return it to the sender and I would get the money back. I refused it yesterday. Whenever I get the money back, I'll order 32 bit.

Just to make sure, I want Vista home premium OEM dvd 32bit, right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116202

yup, or you could just go with the 64-bit edition and hope and pray that it improves - nVidia has released some new drivers, and others might have as well

Just do whatever you want

I would go with 32 bit atm. I wouldn't go with Home Basic, but that is about it.

AHHH!!! MY COMPUTER WON'T BOOT!

I was in Ubuntu and wondered if the hibernate key on my keyboard would work, so I pressed it. It looked as if the computer turned off. I walked over to it and unplugged my usb drive and it seemed like the computer started again. I walked back to my monitor, but there was nothing on it. I moved my mouse and hit some keyboard buttons, but nothing happened. I turned off my monitor, then turned it back on. It had a couple error messages (I didn't write them down). The Ubuntu background wasn't shown. The error messages where just white text on a plain back background.

I hit the reset button on my computer. My BIOS screen loaded, but it seemed to freeze there. It is an ASUS P5W DH Deluxe motherboard. It won't boot from my harddrive or from a live cd. I can't even enter the BIOS setup. It just says "entering setup" and freezes. I don't know what to do...

Well, first off, calm down. Then, once you've done that, bust out the Asus manual and look for something about a CMOS reset - follow the instructions, and you should be good to go (will reset all your BIOS settings, so you may need to alter those)

Once you are up and running, I suggest you update your BIOS (Asus's site should have info on how to do this - you will probably need to update from a floppy or CD)

I should have read your calm down instructions last night. I couldn't fall asleep. haha

I went to bed right after I posted that, but unplugged my computer first. When I woke up and plugged it back in, it worked.

Thanks for the reply, though, Kllrnohj. Unplugging it probably did the same thing that you suggested, but yours would have been faster. As for the BIOS update, I'll check it out when I get home from work.

Thanks again! With this computer, I'm starting to understand why new mothers get so freaked out when their baby gets a cold.

man, you are crazy. Pulling the power cord shouldn't reset the CMOS though (as there is a back-up batter for such an occasion), but who knows, it works, lets go with it.

I need to figure out how to reset the CMOS on my laptop.

No, it doesn't do the same thing as a CMOS reset. I figured you would have at least tried turning it off, waiting ~10 seconds, and then turning it on tho... (which is more or less the same as unplugging it and plugging it back in) which is why I didn't suggest that

I hate to necropost, but this isn't really worth a new topic.

I presented my computer at school as my graduation project. I showed an open office slideshow of building it, showed off beryl a little, then talked about how linux is t3h 1337-sauce. None of the 3 people I presented to were very computer savy, so none of their questions were any cause for concern.

After I presented the computer, I had to sit down for a mock job interview to be a math teacher. That went great, too.

None of the panel members had anything bad to say about it. They were all in love with the case and beryl. (If only they knew the horsepower I had inside )

After my project, I took it to my study hall and played Unreal Tournament 2004 with some friends and showed them what a game looks like in high rez.

I got 2 apevia fans (a 120 and an 80, both blue led like the ones already in the case) and some lighted casefeet from newegg a couple days ago. We installed them during comp sci today. I have a rear 120 and top 80 as exhaust, then 2 front 80's as intake. So far, so good.

Oh, and I also got some 2.1 logitech speakers. Uberpwnsome

Sweet - now post up some pics of that bad boy for us to see Maybe a screen shot or two of it running w/ beryl, as well.

I don't have a dig camera... And how do I take a screenshot in cube mode? I can take a video and upload it at school tomorrow.

And dang, I can't believe how loud this thing is now. I'm really considering disconnecting the intakes...

no no no, I don't mean take beryl action shots, but rather just a screen shot of your desktop (so we can see your theme, background image, etc...) - we don't need for you to create your own beryl action shots/videos

I'm just curious to see how much you've "personalized" your linux install

Rather than disconnecting the fans, try getting a fanbus or 7v modding them. To 7v mod the fan, you just take the black wire from the fan (ground) and hook it to the RED wire pin on the molex connector so you end up with 12v on the yellow wire, and 5v on the "ground" giving 7v to the fan - this won't cause anything any damage, and will significantly slow down the fan, making it much quieter. (molex pinout reference: http://www.retroblast.com/graphics/molex.gif )