Camcorder advice needed

I am planning to purchase a new camcorder soon. Unlike my previous recorders, I want this one to be compatible with my iMac for editing purposes (deleting video scenes and adding music) followed by the burning of DVDs. I have a lengthy list of camcorders which are supposedly compatible from the "iMovie '08: Camcorder Support" bulletin. I have purchased iLife '08 (but haven't received it yet) which I presume contains iMovie '08 to upgrade from my present iMovie HD v 6.0.3. I assume that iMovie '08 is what I will use for editing purposes. I have decided that High Definition is not worth it for me since I want to archive my videos on DVDs for TV viewing. My understanding is that there is no simple or inexpensive way for me to burn any HD media with my present configuration. However, I do want to get a HDD recorder so that I don't have to bother with tapes or mini DVDs as I have in the past. I thought that the SD (standard definition) camcorders required firewire cable for connecting between the camcorder and the iMac however I see a note on the Camcorder Support bulletin which says "If your compatible device has both a USB and FireWire port, you will only need to use the USB port to work with iMovie '08". So am I correct in my conclusion to get a SD rather than HD camcorder for my purposes with USB connection to my iMac and that the HDD will not be problematic? Also if anyone can recommend a camcorder(s) for my purposes, I would appreciate that info as well. Thanks.

Hi
As I see it You aim to one goal and look the other way.
iMovie'08 & 09 are very different to iMovie 1 to HD 6 - a compleatly different tool.
iM'08 & 09 aim for - web/net publications - not good for DVDs (discards every second line
resulting in a quality equal to VHS VCR tapes)
iM 1 to HD6 - are for DVDs and full quality SD-video
If You want DVDs to Your TV and SD-video then You should use an editor made for this
eg. iMovie HD 6, FinalCut Express or Pro
And if Your movies are meant to be a time document - only storage that are secure
(what that will mean ?) are on tapes.
So if DVD and family memoires - then a miniDV tape Camera and iMovie HD 6 or FCE.
If short speed demanding clips to be sent to the web - iMovie'08 & 09 are the proper tools.
Yours Bengt W

Similar Messages

Eek! My cover is blown... Camcorder advice needed...

Please excuse the bizzarre Thread Title, but i think it sums up my situation perfectly. Basically, i've been using iMovie and iDVD to make some gorgeous home movies reently, and everyone's been doing the usual "Wow! How did you do that?" sort of thing. That's the joy of iLife I suppose- you get high-quality results from next to near no effort.
But now i've been asked to help shoot a 45 minute mini-film for a (prestigious) local drama group, who really liked all of my iMovie projects. Trouble is, i've only got a tiny little Panasonic 3CCD Camcorder, and...well, i think i'm expected to bring something that resembles more of a bazooka than this meagre little thing. They're after 'high-quality'- video, and i'm not sure if i can provide. Shooting iMovie home-movies is one thing, but this...
So I really need advice on getting the most out of my camera and getting my 'film' to look as good as expected. I've thought about the idea of buying a 'wide-conversion lens' but i've got no idea whether it'll give me nice widescreen shots or just fuzz up the quality. And as for lighting- any hints? All of my projects have been outdoors where they look great, but i'm meant to shoot indoors for this. In the dark.
I've also thought of upgrading to FCE, as i could do with some more 'pro'-like abilities, but I won't have forever to learn how to use it.
Basically I'm just an iMovie user who's been mistaken for Steven Speilberg and has just been given a $60m make-or-break contract. What am i to do?
(Please forgive the melodrama in this post, i'm just getting into character)
PJ
Oh, and just for the record, the camcroder serial number is NV-GS140

1. As mentioned before, DO go to see them rehearse, so that you know what they'll be doing, and note down specially interesting or tricky moments which might be difficult to shoot - e.g; two people at opposite ends of wherever they're performing; where should you put the camera to make sure they're both in shot? ..or would it be better to use two cameras ..one to capture each of them? ..etc.
2. You say you have several mics, but several mics at several positions will capture different audio, and it looks awful onscreen afterwards if the sound cuts at the same moment as every camera cut: the audio needs to be consistent even while the picture cuts from one shot to another. So think - and experiment - where would be the best place to put your main mic to get proper coverage of all the sound..? (..or attach a cheap radio mic to each person..) and then record that master audio from your main mic into one 'master' camera which you keep running all the time, or into a reliable audio recorder whose speed won't drift ..e.g; a mini-disc recorder. See 8 below.
3. As suggested by Karsten and Matt, get hold of a few other camcorders for close-ups, long shots, etc, and keep one 'master' camcorder running. But make sure that those other cameras can shoot OK in indoor light. Don't forget to set the White Balance correctly on all cameras, so that if you're shooting by indoor (electric) light you have the camera(s) set up to 'light-bulb' white-balance, NOT 'sun' or 'cloudy' setting, or everything will come out blue!
4. Your 3-chip Panny should be excellent for low light, and has a superb lens. But do get used to handling it, and setting it up, for low light indoors: shutter speed of a fiftieth or a twenty-fifth; maybe turn the gain up a couple of notches (if it has a Gain or AE Shift control); put it on a tripod, or other steadying device, and turn the SIS image stabilisation OFF (for a sharper picture) and use only the optical zoom (NOT the super-magnifying blurry digital zoom); plug an external mic into the mic socket, and put headphones in the headphone socket to be SURE of what the sound is like, and that you're not picking up motor noise from the camera.
5. If it's a play on a stage, you'll have limited freedom to put cameras just anywhere, so watch the rehearsals (see 1 above) to choose your camera placement. If it's being 'staged' specially for you to shoot as a movie, you can put cameras anywhere, and you can ask the actors to repeat scenes (..but don't get on their nerves!..) so that you can shoot the same scene from different positions, for close-ups, etc. Handheld looks dreadful when it's seen afterwards on a big screen, unless you have very steady hands, or unless the onscreen character is going through some emotional turbulence, so keep the camera very steady, on a tripod or (easier to carry around and manipulate) a monopod. If it's being 'staged' specially for you to shoot, ensure that the lighting is consistent ..so that if actor A has light on the right of their face, try to keep it that way: audiences will get confused if the lighting changes from one side of the face to the other (..has s/he crossed the room? ..turned to face the other way..? ..turned through 180 degrees?..)
6. Don't get over-ambitious. Don't try to be overly 'smart'. They'll be very pleased to see 'their' production on tape, or onscreen. They probably don't want to see an 'arty' version of what they've been doing, with twisted camera angles, excruciating close-ups, complex tracking shots (..no offence to "Rope"!..) ..As long as it's easy on the eye and everyone's visible, and everyone can be heard, and the picture doesn't wobble, they'll probably be perfectly happy! So don't get worried.
7. Don't go over the top with fancy effects, so that the effects detract from the story: it may be a brilliant shot to you, but they're more interested in the story being comprehensible, not the fact that you had to hang upside down by your ankle to get the shot, or that you had to merge three different transitions in iMovie to get that hazy ripple-dissolve. Don't 'show off' ..they won't like it or appreciate it.
8. The sound is even more important than the picture! If the picture's a little dim, it doesn't matter too much, as long as everyone can be heard (like listening to the radio) ..but if the sound's inaudible it'll be awful (like watching TV but with the sound turned off) and it just won't make sense. This can't be stressed too much: make sure your mic(s) pick up all the sound c-l-e-a-r-l-y and consistently ..and don't rely on the built-in mic on any camera.
9. Use a long-running, large-capacity battery - or get several normal batteries. Do NOT just rely on the one battery which came with the camera: it will NOT last long enough. Check and see if the camera loses its settings if you remove and swap the battery, as it might change back to automatic shutter speed when you swap batteries, and thus you may lose your low-light settings. DO splash out on a high-capacity battery or several extra ones which you keep fully charged! If you're keeping a 'master camera' running for a consistent 'overall shot', keep that camera plugged into the mains if possible (..and if running off the mains, use headphones to check that it's not recording any 'mains hum').
10. Be confident. If you appear to know what you're doing, they'll be happy to do what you ask. If you seem unsure, or vague, or don't know if your equipment's working, they'll get frustrated and they'll give poor performances ..then everyone will be upset! ..Be friendly, confident, but not bossy.
In the end, it's only a movie..!
11. Oh; you asked about a wide-angle lens; yes: get a wide-angle ..but try several in a shop before you choose one. Some may cut off the extreme corners of the picture, but that may not be noticeable in the viewfinder, as the viewfinder may NOT show the whole picture! [Shoot something, accurately, with the camera's normal lens at its widest angle, getting in shot, say, a room from exactly the door frame to a window frame, or having two other identifiable markers at the extreme edges of the shot. Import that clip into iMovie, and see if what's onscreen in iMovie is exactly what you shot ..or if iMovie shows more than your viewfinder showed! ..That way you'll know if you can rely on your finder to see to the edges of your shot. The very, extreme edges probably won't show on a normal TV, as the extreme margins are normally lost anyway, but you want to be sure that an add-on wide-angle will NOT crop the corners off your picture.]
Some designs of wide-angle do NOT let you zoom to the full extent (..the picture may go out of focus..) so always try before you buy. You want a .5x or x4.5 wide-angle for it to be worthwhile. Sony wide-angles are very expensive, and often don't give more than x.7 (about a third) extra width. Other makes, e.g; Hama, may give 50% extra width (.5x) but may give a slightly fuzzy view. Spend half a day at Tottenham Court Road and New Oxford Street in London - if you're anywhere near there - to try every wide-angle in every shop ..otherwise try every wide-angle in Jessops, Dixons and every other camera shop in town. Keene Electronics sell a huge variety of w/a lenses, but you can't try before you buy!
Some w/a lenses give a curved-edge 'semi-fisheye' effect, but a few do keep vertical lines vertical. You probably want as little as possible 'fisheye' effect, so that the audience can concentrate on the action, not on the peculiar curved look.. DO check that you can zoom (..i.e; choose your degree of closeness..) thro' your chosen w/a, otherwise you'll be limited as to where you can put the camera. Be careful that a w/a lens doesn't 'see' an external mic fixed on top of the camera!
Er, tha-tha-that's all, folks!

Advice needed on buying iphone as gift

I went to apple store, they do not want to sell iphone to me unless I sign AT&T 2 years plan. I thought AT&T has locked the phone and users must subscribe in order to use it. Why Apple store still not allow me to buy?
Please advice, if I want to buy online iphone for my brother, do I or my brother have obligation to sign out AT&T plan?
One more advice needed, I found the shipment takes weeks, do I have option to arrange for self-collection?
My brother birthday is coming soon, I need above advice urgently.
Thank you very much

Tamara wrote:
I'm guessing English is not your first language. It's possible that you misunderstood them. Apple Store employees won't refuse to sell you an iPhone and you don't have to sign up for service in the store.
Well that's not entirely true.
Apple Stores have been instructed not to sell you an iPhone if any of the following is true:
You state that you will not be signing up with AT&T.
You do not have an ID from a US state, also indicating you will not be activating with AT&T
You do not have a credit card
For example, I've seen US Apple Store managers refuse to sell iPhones to European residents because of the AT&T lock-in.

Video intensive work on Mac Pro? Advice Needed

Hi everyone,
I've been originally saving up for a while now for an iMac 24" as it offers the best specification price wise. But now I leaning on the Mac Pro and therefore need some advice.
I know that there are alot of posts on advice - need to buy mac etc. so therfore I would really appreciate if I am afforded some help.
I am mostly going to do ALOT of video encoding (via handbrake) and I am looking for the best configuration available to achieve lowest waiting time.

I think you should go back and look at the other threads with advice, your budget. There is "ideal" and "affordable."
Will it pay for itself in 24 months so you can afford the next revision at that time?
Start with an 8-Core 3GHz.
Add a Port Multiplier controller and two drive cases, 5 drives each, nearly 400MB/sec RAID.
Throw in 8GB RAM.
Add in costs for software upgrades, two sets of backups, four internal 500GB drives.
Seagate has 750GB, as does WD. Hitachi has their $450 1000GB monster.
Give yourself time to build, test, and optimize your setup, and expect to change it over time as you learn more.
Can't afford that? then trim the 8-core. But Apple has shown how efficient next generation applications already are for video when it comes to 3GHz 8-core Mac Pro.

Had to have a rebuild of my laptop....advice needed!

Had to have a rebuild of my laptop....have now lost all my music from my itunes, but I can't transfer back on from my ipod. Also had to register my laptop (same) as another computers, so now no music showing as purchased, though I have. Also have hours of uploaded music from my own purchased, legitimate CDs, but won't transfer from ipod...it says it will erase. So very frustrated....thanks mr technician! PLEASE ....help, advice needed!

I believe that if you do a clean reinstall from your HD's recovery sector (D) or Recovery disks, the hard drive sector C is wiped clean. Everything goes, apps, data, address books, music, pix, viruses
Is that what you did?

I am using InDesign CS5. I have a body of text which is ranged left with tabbed indents. My client now wants the copy to be justifed, keeping the tabbed indents. Help and advice needed please!

I am using InDesign CS5. I have a body of text which is ranged left with tabbed indents. My client now wants the copy to be justifed, keeping the tabbed indents. Help and advice needed please!

Hi
That screen grab helps a lot. There’s a much easier way of doing what you’re doing.
Remove all your tabs and set the text in justified paragraphs.
I’ve typed in dummy text in the example I made below, but after “19.1” put in a space and put your blinking cursor after the space and before the ’N’ of ‘Notices'.
Then hold down the Command key and hit Backspace (on Mac at least - it’s the key between the Inverted commas/ apostrophe key and the return key).
The text will jump into place the way you want it to.
Hope that helps
Paul
PS You can set a tab, instead of using a space, in the description I gave above. So, after 19.1 or 19.2 or 19.185 etc etc insert a tab, then hit the Command Backspace after every paragraph number and they'll all line up exactly together. You'll find that editing text within the paragraphs
after you've set it will be LOADS easier this way.
You can put the tab anywhere you want it to be using 'Command-ShiftT' and putting a 'left align' tab just after the number. Just type the Command Backspace after the paragraph number and it'll work

MOVED: Various advice needed to overclock cpu using my MSI k8n platinum sli

This topic has been moved to Overclockers & Modding Corner.
Various advice needed to overclock cpu using my MSI k8n platinum sli

what HSF for cpu/ cooling for the case do you use? And also, where are the flashing lights?

AVCHD Camcorder to DVD Advice Needed - Am I Doing This Right?

Hi All,
I have a MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo with 2GB memory. I also have a Canon HG10 AVCHD Camcorder. I took a total of 2.5 hours of video footage.
1. I attached the camcorder to my computer via USB and downloaded the movie off of my camcorder onto my laptop - this took about 2.5 hours to do.
2. Then I wanted to make a DVD out of the footage and created a DVD in iDVD. I loaded the movie from iMovie and created a DVD - this took about 5 hours.
3. Then I burned the first DVD - this took over 2 hours.
4. I burned additional DVDs as gifts - and each of these took about 19 minutes.
My questions are: Am I doing this correctly? Does one 2.5 hours of filming really need to take so long to decompress or whatever it is doing? Would I have been better off using iMovieHD? I'm sorry to sound so stupid, but I am very new to camcorders and iMovie/iDVD. Many thanks for your help and understanding.

Let me see if I can describe it easier
Step 1 - transferred 2.5 hours of video footage from my Canon HG10 to my MacBook Pro (took about 2.5 hours to do) this was put into iMovie '08 with no problem
Step 2 - I created a DVD in iDVD with 1 song out of iTunes as the Main Screen of the DVD, created 1 chapter for the Movie itself, and 1 Slideshow of pictures with 1 song from iTunes. I then pressed burn DVD - which it took over 5 hours to burn the first DVD
Step 3 - additional DVDs took 19 minutes to burn after the first one.
I hope this helps. I might of messed up on my first post. Thanks!

Major advice needed for premier system and camcorder.

Ok, I'm a graphic designer by trade. Been using Adobe products for 20 years, but never really did anything with video. We will be upgrading to CS5 and I have been tasked with getting us into video. I need some opinions on whether to go with HDV (tape), Sony HDR-FX7, or go with an AVCHD camera of similar quality. Also, how well does Premier (cs4) handle the AVCHD format. Lastly, I have read the minimum hardware requirements for premiere, and pass that test barely, what would you suggest as the minimum hardware, that I could tell my IT department, that would get me by without wanting to throw my computer out the window. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Take a look at this camera - http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=1 1201&catalogId=13051&itemId=361001&catGroupId=112502&surfModel=AG-HMC40
You should find it in the $2100 to $2200 range at any number of resellers.
Get Cineform's Neo Scene and you can convert the AVCHD to Cinform's codec. That will allow you to edit the material on a system that can't handle editing AVCHD natively. I would still look at getting a supported video card for the MPE regardless of which way you go. As for monitors, have your IT look at the Asus monitors. Their cheap with great color and a very low response time.

I need camera & camcorder advice.

I am looking for a camcorder or camera with video capability for under $300.
I have been researching to the best of my ability, but there are so many options on the market.
Must haves:
- rechargeable battery.
- great sound
- vivid picture/video during day and night.

Hello ibelievemoon,
There's a lot of choices out there and I've recently found that it's easier to find a camera first that includes video capabilities. Since your looking for a camcorder able to deliver stills, the first camcorder that comes to mind is the GoPro HERO3 HD Camcorder. I'm currently enrolled in school studying video production. One of the cameras our program is looking to purchase and add to their inventory is the GoPro for its convenience in handling and versatility. When you have a moment, check it out by clicking here.
Come on back and let me know what you think.
Derald|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message

Camcorder Help Needed

Hi, thanks for reading this. I have a Macbook with iMovie 09 and am about to purchase a camcorder. I have read the list of camcorders supported by apple but because I am clueless technologically I would love input on the best camcorder to get for what we need. I have read some older threads but they do not completely answer my questions. Our primary restriction is price as we are hoping to spend under 350 if possible. Our main goal for the camcorder is shooting home movies and other basic footage as we are expecting a baby soon. If someone has a suggestion on a camcorder that shoots relatively good quality footage, has decent memory capability, and works well with iMovie 09 I would really appreciate it. We are not video experts who need the very best...just some advice on what would be the best option for our needs. Thank you so much for your help in advance!

your budget is tough. You really should stay away from DV material unless you want to preprocess it. That means you are into an HD camera. imovie works best with progressive. The canon AVCHD that shoots 30p will give you the best quality, but not in your budget. Maybe look for inexpensive webbie type camera such as the flip or sonys webbie. Sanyo also is about to release a new set of cameras that will also shoot iframe...a new spec fully supported and developed by apple/imovie.
It will be more expensive than the flip, but not too much over your budget.

Multiple device syncing advice needed and appreciated.

Hey everyone, happy holidays to everyone
I need some advice from you Apple lovers out there if you can spend some time replying. Thanks alot in advanced
My devices and current status
13" Macbook Pro with 8gig RAM with lion OS - Mosty used for word processing, DJing, low Internet usage now that i have Ipad, photo management, DVD ripping etc etc - i use this as my main device to organise emails and i purchase most apps, music and films on this device too
Ipad2 - Mostly for media content, web browsing, Youtube, playing games, FB, watching films. I use this device for fun not functionality or work related things
Iphone 4 - Usual phone usage, I use my phone as my main device for iCal, contacts, checking emails/messages on the move
2GB time capsule - brand new in the box as yet unused
Generally speaking i get confused or change my mind frequently about what to sync to which device, i started off using icloud but then things got confusing and i had things real messed up, multiple same contacts, apps on differnet device, differnet music on all 3 devices so now for the moment i think of my Macbook as the main device with both my iphone and ipad backed up to the Macbook. I then back up all of this on a regular 500g external Hard Drive.
So my questions are as follows
1. Can and should i use icloud to back up my devices and if so how should i do this effectivly
2. What syncing procedure would suit me best
3. How should i integrate Timecapsule to my devices
Any other suggestions would really be apreciated
Thanks again

The second part puzzles me - excuse me (but i honestly don't know) do both units give off a wifi signal of roughly equal 'amounts'?
Yes. Since both are connected by "Ethernet" each base station is its own wireless network and you have a few options on how best to configure them.
One of those options is to give both wireless networks the same Network Name (or SSID) so that you can, for example, "walk" a laptop from one to the other and stay connected. This is known as a roaming network.
If this is something that you don't desire or have a requirement for, then leaving them as two separate wireless networks would work just as well.
So what i am asking - i guess - is can i increase the distance the wifi signal reaches of the second unit (the time capsule - that is wired to the airport extreme)
To extend the wireless range of the Time Capsule (TC) you would need another 802.11n AirPort, like the AirPort Express Base Station (AXn). This should get a stronger signal out to the garden. Of course, it would really depend on the distance from the TC to where you would like to place the AXn to get the best results.
Let me know if you need help configuring the base stations.

I have constant K8N Neo2 problems advice needed. (long) Update

I need some advice on what my problem might be and if I need to RMA the motherboard or power supply.
I have a new Athlon 64 3500+ processor, MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum BIOS v1.3 motherboard, with 2 512MB DIMMs of Corsair Value Select Memory. I have had and am still having a series of crashes and lock-ups I will list below. FULL SYSTEM SPECS BELOW AT BOTTOM.
I initially installed the motherboard with a SINGLE 120GB hard drive from the old machine and the installed the memory in memory slots 1 & 2 to try dual channel memory mode. I then formatted the C partition and did a clean install of Windows XP Professional with SP2, installed the MSI drivers on the installation CD that came with the motherboard (Nvidia nForce3 Version 5.03 System Drivers, Realtek gigabit ethernet driver, Realtek AC97 audio driver) & the GeForce v66.93 video driver. I then got my first blue screen "MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION" crash, I ignored this crash and rebooted. I shortly got a black screen crash which I also ignored.
I then installed a new 200GB hard drive and a old 120GB so I could transfer the data from the old 120GB to the new 200GB drive. The data transfer went fine. As I was preparing to install some applications I then got my second blue screen "MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION" crash. Suspecting the Corsair Value Select Memory could not handle dual channel I ran Memtest-86 for 2 passes and got NO errors with the memory in dual channel mode, so I left it.
With my data backed up on the 200GB new drive I removed the new 200GB and the second 120GB hard did another clean install of Windows XP Professional with SP2, this time with Nvidia’s nForce3 Version 5.10 system drivers, the Realtek gigabit ethernet driver and Realtek AC97 audio driver from the motherboard installation CD & the GeForce v66.93 video driver. I downloaded the latest version of Core Center and installed it and got it working. CPU temperatures were showing a low of around 29C, average of about 44C, and spikes at full loads of about 55-57C. I then ran Ghost to back up the boot partition. I installed all my applications, reinstalled the 200GB and 120 GB hard drives moved some data around with no crashes.
I then installed Rome Total War and played for about 2 hours and had one black screen crash after the reboot played for 4 more hours with no problems so I shut down and went to bed.
In the morning I got up started the computer let it run for awhile the CPU temperatures were in the low 30Cs to low 40Cs I tried to copy some files from the D partition to desktop and the screen freezes I waited about 5 min. with no change and no drive light activity so I hit the reset button. Upon reboot I got a ‘no system disk found” error, I went into the BIOS and checked the drive set-ups and boot priority, everything was correct. I tried for a half hour to get the system to boot with on luck. I used the Ghost to restore the partition image I had made earlier and still no boot. I finally decided to reinstall XP again put in the installation CD and when I got to the screen where you decide where to install Windows I changed my mind quit and bingo the machine boots into the restored Ghost partition???? I started to reinstall my applications got one more blue screen"MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION" crash and another screen freeze that I had to reset.
So I decided to start from real scratch I removed the new 200GB and the second 120GB hard drive ran Killdisk on the boot drive, made a new clean 20GB C partition and did another clean install of Windows XP Professional with SP2, this time with Nvidia’s nForce3 Version 5.10 system drivers, the Realtek gigabit ethernet driver and Realtek AC97 audio driver from the motherboard installation CD & the GeForce v66.93 video driver. I installed the latest version of Core Center and installed it and got it working. CPU temps were as before.
I tested the memory with Memtest-86 again 2 passes no errors. Just in case I then moved one of the memory DIMMs to memory slot 3 out of dual channel mode and to a slower speed and ran Memtest-86 for about 20 hours with 21 passes with no memory errors, so I think memory can be ruled out as the problem.
Next I installed my applications I got one screen freeze that I had to reset. I reinstalled the other 200GB and 120GB hard drives. After I got all my applications install and Ghosted the boot partition. I have had one more one screen freeze that I had to reset.
I have a problem I simply cannot figure out. The memory is obliviously fine. While I have seen CPU temperatures spikes as high as 57C the CPU temps as reported by Core Center averages in the high 30Cs or low 40Cs and most of crashes/lock-ups don’t seem to occur during high CPU load/temp. The power supply might be a little light for the system but many of the crashes have occurred with only one hard drive in the system. The fact after one for the lock-ups the system would not boot for awhile and then magically just booted gives me concern there might be a motherboard problem.
Any solution ideas would be appreciated. Should I RMA the power supply, the motherboard, or both.
Full system specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+, Socket 939, 0.13 Micron, with retail heatsink and fan.
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum BIOS v1.3
Memory: Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB (2 x 512MB DIMMs) Kit DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory - one 512MB DIMM in memory slot 1 and one 512MB DIMM in memory slot 3 running at DDR333 speed.
Video Card: Chaintech GeForce4 Ti 4600
Drives:
Maxtor 6Y120L0 120GB hard drive as master on IDE channel 1. 3 partitions C (boot partition), D, & E.
Seagate ST3200822A 200GB hard drive as slave on IDE channel 1. Single partition.
Maxtor 6Y120L0 120GB hard drive as master on IDE channel 2. Single partition.
Sony DRU-500AX DVD-RW as slave on IDE channel 2.
SATA disabled in BIOS.
No PCI cards.
Case: Antec SX 835
4 80mm case fans (2 fans in front blowing in, 2 fans in rear of case blowing out).
Power Supply: Thermaltake W0008RUC Silent PurePower 420W w/Active PFC
Power Supply Specifications:
Maximum Power: 420W
PFC: Acitve
Power Good Signal: 100-500ms
Hold-up Time: > 16ms at Full Load
Efficiency: > 65%
Over Voltage Protection: +5V trip pointInput Voltage: 100 VAC / 240 VAC
Input Frequency Range: 47-63 Hz
Input Current: 8.0A
Output: +3.3V@30A;+5V@40A;[email protected];+12V@18A;[email protected];+5VSB@2A

Quote
I then installed Rome Total War and played for about 2 hours and had one black screen crash
Great isn't it (although not without the occasional crash)
Would you say it's better but not there yet ? or the same ?
I thought the same as Ibn Quote
Your PS unit is a little weak for that much hardware, but I doubt thats your problem as well
re your PSU, given youv'e got a less hungry Graphic Card, thought it was at worse marginal, have seen worse.
To investigate further it may be worth diconnecting one of your HD, maybe the 200gb for a time.
It's a small thing but it may be slightly better to have both your maxtors together on IDE channel 1, given their identical.
good luck - keeo us posted

Mid 2010 MacBook Pro - Logic Board Failure - Advice Needed

Hello all,
I could really use some advice.
I have a MacBook Pro that I bought through the Apple Online Store roughly around September of 2010. A couple of weeks after buying it I had to take it to the Apple Store in London's White City due to a keyboard backlight issue. About a week later I collected the MBP and the following day had to take it back as the technician that worked on it had not tightened the display brackets up leaving it a bit floppy.
Now I have serious issues with it. Recently the MacBook has been suffering from freezing up, booting issues and the display randomly shutting off (going black, no pixelating or anything) to the point the machine has become unusable. 2 days ago I took the MBP along to an appointment at the Genius Bar at London's Regent Street Apple Store, I also took along a copy of an Apple knowledge base article regarding this very issue. The knowledge base suggests that on any OS below Mountain Lion a software update is required, for ML or Mavericks an appointment with a service agent is required. During the appointment the Mac Genius suggested it may be a software issue, they would wipe the system and re-install Mavericks then test the machine, I told him I had done this a few days earlier but I guess they have to follow process. He then went on to suggest the display may be faulty, I told him I had no reason to suspect that was the case and moved the screen forwards and backwards at varying speeds without a glimmer of a flicker. At this point after reading about this issue on various forums prior to the appointment I felt that the guy was trying to imply anything maybe at fault but deliberately steering clear of suggesting the logic board, this is just my gut feeling however and i'm perfectly capable of being wrong but I do not feel I am! Anyhow I then proceeded to demonstrate the issue whilst the machine was on, warmed up and right in front of him. I gently and slightly lifted the front left corner of the machine a little way off of the counter, just enough to obviously flex the logic board by a minuscule amount and immediately the display went into a frenzy of going off and on.
So I left the MBP with them for the guys to do their thing. Today I received the following email:
"We have attempted to repair your machine by erasing all the data off your machine and reinstalling the latest operating system, Mavericks. This has not resolved the issue of the screen going black when in use. The issue has occurred again for a very short and brief few times once the machine had fully turned on and after testing the issue did not appear again.
I'm sure the issue will more likely occur again, to repair the machine we would need to replace a part known as the main logic board. This repair is very expensive and will come roughly to £418.80."
£418.80 GBP, that's pretty much 25% of the original purchase price of the machine new, a Premium 'Pro' labelled machine just 3 years old at that. I cannot possibly afford to pay for the repair. I really despair.
This MBP has done no work hard enough for it to get stressed. It is used for some web surfing, online shopping, email, online flash based games but mostly for my kids homework. It has spent it's entire life on a table in our living room with the exception of it's Genius Bar trips.
I love Apple products, it's why as a family we own so many off them. Too many to list on a public forum as I don't want would be burglars inviting themselves around sometime. This issue has tainted my perception of both Apple and it's products. Not so much because of the fault, machines become faulty. No because it's a premium machine that cost me £2100 new and is little more than a paperweight at present just 3 years down the line. Some part of me if i'm honest was wishing but more than that expecting a company like Apple to say along the lines of "This has happened, it shouldn't have and will be repaired at no charge". There are many people suffering this kind of problem with this model and the existence of the knowledge base article must mean Apple knows it too. Just 3 years, £300 PCs last longer than that i'm sure. It does seem to be a very short lifespan for such a high end machine.
My apologies for droning on but I can neither afford the repair or do without the computer, my son is in his final GCSE year at school and my daughter in her pre GCSE year so a computer is critical for school homework research etc. I just do not know how to move forward, I haven't even picked the machine up yet!
This isn't a stomping Apple, one man crusade. I just need my MacBook fixed.
If anyone has had this problem and had it satisfactory resolved, knows who to speak to that may help resolve the issue please let me know.
Any other advice will be more than welcome.

Ive repaired 1000s of laptops over the years (translate: diagnose and replace parts).
Its not that old, Ive owned 100s of laptops (most were free) ....some I still have are nearly 13 years old and still perfect, ....some extremely expensive ones died in under a year.
other than becoming obsolete at some point, there isnt really any "will spoil on" data like Milk for solid state computer parts, ....alas.
You can have a $5000 laptop die in 4 months, and a junker one keep kicking after 10 years.... Ive seen that firsthand countless times.
Common logic dictates that "very expensive = long life" in computers,..... but all the repair people will tell you just the opposite.
I know you have a gripe, I get that all too well honestly .

Advice needed regarding Database design practice

OK, here is my situation. I've started working for a company about 6 months ago. I'm a .NET developer with 12+ years of experience. Most of my experience with databases is with SQL Server. Recently I've discovered an design change with our Oracle database that our DBA made that I completely disagree with.
We had a single Event table that holds records that pertain to all HTTP traffic on a network as HTTP Usage Event. There are multiple hardware units called 'Sensors' that monitor the network and report these HTTP events to the database. At some point not long ago, the table was holding just over a million records. Performance was suffering so the DBA decided to make a change to the database to accommodate. The change she made was to create a separate Event table for each sensor. Each sensor has an integer value as a unique identifier, so our database went from having a single Event table to now having Event_100, Event_101, Event_102, etc...
So, we now have over 200 Event tables in our database. Anytime a sensor is added to the system, we need to add another table (actually two as there is a 2nd table that was duplicated in this same fashion).
How do I present this to my boss and to the DBA in a way that I don't embarrass my boss (he approved the change) and without pissing off the DBA? I can't imagine that the table couldn't have been optimized as it was to take care of the issues with performance without so dramatic a change.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Edited by: jreddy on Dec 15, 2010 6:51 AM

There is a job to purge old data. Events are kept for 3 months. These jobs were actually part of the problem, as well as removing sensors from the system. In either of these cases, the deletion of the data (more so with the removal of a Sensor i.e. DELETE FROM EVENT WHERE SENSORID = X, was taking too long).
I'm surprised that there have been people agreeing to this design. So, now we have 208 sensors, so 208 Event tables and another table named DATA_HASH duplicated 208 times. There may be a time when our database will be handling data from over 1,000 sensor units. Maybe even double that. Can anyone argue that having 2,000 event tables is the way to go? What if we need to add a new field to the table? Do that 2000 times?
I've been looking at bit more at the data today. I found some event tables haven't got any data (0 rows) while others range in row counts of 2 million up to as much as 30 million? I've talked to SQL DBA's and they all think that Oracle should be able to handle billions of rows in a table.
Also, just out of curiosity, I looked up the max size for a table in Oracle 10. I know the number of rows isn't the determining factor for this, but size of the data. I was astounded to find out the max size for data storage for a single table. 127 TB (yeah, tera bytes). Based on this size, it seems our data could be handled by 1 table, but then maybe I'm wrong.

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