JonCole

Oh, did you return the headset you overnighted then? Either way, the headset you like so much was added to my Amazon wishlist. I have an old set of Sennheiser cans that are on the edge, so I'd like to line up a replacement when the time comes. Best of luck with your choice, I'd hope that a set of "office headphones" would be comfortable, as that seems like an important criterion for wearing something like that for hours on end.

Can't say I have any experience with the 7.1 version, but I imagine they're built similarly. In any case, it's not a super-durable piece of kit so I'm not surprised it broke. I have it plugged into my computer using a USB extension cable and I don't have any reason to unplug and replug the wires so there's practically no stress on that component at all. If you care to try again, I know that both Turtle Beach and Logitech also make USB soundcards that are quite decent (personal experience with the Logitech, Turtle Beach good from hearsay) but they were significantly more expensive (2-3x, $20 or something like that) so that's why I went with the cheap-but-good one I recommended.

Fwiw, Rakuten has a 12-month PS+ card for $40 shipped right now - http://www.rakuten.com/prod/playstation-plus-12-month-subscription-card-for-ps3-ps4-ps-vita/255121733.html?listingid=305133594

Being involved in playing it? Was that oblique choice of words intentional? Not trying to be a semantic hardass, just curious.

Power move! Best of luck with that, let us know how it turns out.

That actually seems super cool, I don't remember Microsoft really advertising that as a feature with that mouse but it certainly would have gotten my interest if they did. That said, the ergonomics of it seem somewhat poor and I don't really need another mouse sitting around the house (I buy like every somewhat-cool looking one I see on sale every three or four months).

Am I being a d-bag simply quoting the page? See here:

October US Lineup is awesome: Sine Mora - PSV Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - PS3 Poker Night 2 - PS3 Shadow of the Colossus - PS3 Hotline Miami - PS3/PSV

I really hope they are offering some good support to devs, because this controller really doesn't map one-to-one with anything out already. I'm already thinking of games that make use of the D-pad for quick functions and wondering if putting those buttons in the middle of the controller will feel okay.

For what it's worth, the Panasonic ST60 is actually a series of televisions. The most budget friendly (under or around 1000 USD) is the aforementioned 50" model. There are other models going up in increments of 5" up to 65", also increasing in price. The 65" model is about double the price or so of the 50" model.

The Wirecutter's step down pick is also on that page and is currently running for about $1500 from various retailers here in the US. Might be worth investigating.

This is a good projector website, I know Robert Heron from Rev3's HD Nation show reads and references it quite often: http://www.projectorcentral.com/ HD Nation is just generally a good show to watch if you're at all interested in this kind of stuff, from what blu-rays make good reference movies, TV calibration, good cable tuners, and all of that other junk. Seems like you're set on a projector, so best to do plenty of research ahead of time. I don't know a whole lot about them, personally, but I do know that there's definitely a gap in what projector enthusiasts think are worthwhile vs what you might determine from specs. Namely, sub-$3000 projectors are generally put in a ghetto by comparison to more expensive models. That said, the sub-$3000 section of AVS Forum was quite active last time I looked because frankly not a ton of people have $3000 to blow on one piece of home theater equipment. I've heard a lot of good things about Optoma and Epson, especially in the budget realm.

So, I just upgraded to an XL because my girlfriend was wanting to play Pokemon and I stepped up so she could get my 3DS. This thing is enormous. I can see why people favor this over the previous product, I kinda didn't know what I was missing. The general ergonomics of it are so much better than the normal 3DS and I frankly don't mind the size because I'll never put it in my pocket to begin with. Now I'm just looking forward to playing something with it... Pokemon Y will be nice, but now I'm giving a lot more thought to that new Zelda title whose name I can't remember.

Google nerds still talk about how they want a CR-48 prototype Chromebook that's actually good, because despite it being a prototype and despite it being bad people cared about that visual design. That's the power of a sharp looking piece of tech.

I get your point and I get their intention, but Steambox has box right in the name. Regardless of the fact that there will be several models from several manufacturers, it'd still be nice to see what form factors they have in mind and what the first couple models will look like. Same was true for the Google TV - theoretically, the make of each box shouldn't have mattered. But the design of each box and associated remote made a big difference despite the fact that the software was supposed to be the hero. It's obviously not a 1:1 comparison, but for some reason people (including myself) care exactly what this dumb shiny black box will look like. Valve should recognize that.

I generally recommend Samsung and Panasonic plasmas. Have had excellent experiences with both, and all of ye olde problems with plasma are pretty much gone. Only disadvantage is they're heavy as all hell at high screen sizes.

Can't wait to read the haikus about the Steambox. But yeah, lack of an actual hardware design at the very least is disappointing. Though, if they show it any time in the next few months they'll have a leg up on traditional console counterparts.

I can't wait to see where the peripheral falls between Xbox 360 controller and... well, Xbox 360 controller. Every "new" console including the Ouya and OnLive Microconsole completely and blatantly imitate the 360 controller. And since you probably just want to support Xinput anyways, it'll just be a 360 controller behind the scenes if I had to guess (unless Valve is releasing a new controller standard for PC? I dunno, that'd be dumb)

I usually use The Wirecutter for initial tech recommendations, their "Best USB Office Headset" is $40 and looks pretty good. Obviously not marketed directly towards gamers (doesn't say anything on the product page about accurate stereo directional representation or whatever), but seems like a solid enough piece of kit: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-office-headset/ Other thing I'd recommend is this guy, a USB Sound Card. A lot of USB headsets just come with one of these and pack 3.5mm plugs, instead of building the USB plug into the wire. I used this one for a time and I thought the audio quality was surprisingly good, plus it let me use a solid set of Sennheiser cans with a stick mic: http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-Adapter-C-Media-Chipset/dp/B001MSS6CS/

No, I just have a backup video card that I could probably tide myself over with until I do have "money to spare". But yeah, being employed helps.

I would probably just throw my GPU in a fiery trashcan before doing all that stuff. More power to you.

Badfinger's budget point is still sound, however. I'm speccing out a new computer for my girlfriend because the amalgamation of old parts from my old computers is proving to be unstable and I just don't like the idea of her being the hand-me-down recipient. I don't have $1000 to blow on it. She also doesn't play most first-person games or shooters, mostly stuff like Guild Wars 2, X-Com, Civ, etc. So, I'm going to make her a computer that does what she needs it to do for the near future and I'll update it as needed. I am at least getting her a 2GB 7850, which should be adequate far longer than something marginally cheaper with a 128-bit bus and 1GB of video RAM. Not everything needs to be wildly futureproof, it just needs to be future-wary. Otherwise, only rich people would play PC games.

I think it's pretty clear that specs, including multiple cores and video RAM, will matter in the next-generation. That said, not every person wants to play the most cutting-edge games at the most mind-blowing graphics. Particularly people on this forum, I'd expect, who play low fidelity games like Gunpoint or Gone Home and appreciate a good concept and good design over brain-blasting graphics. EA is asking for a 6-core or greater AMD CPU/4-core or greater Intel CPU + 3GB of video RAM for Battlefield 4. I'm not going to have all that when BF4 rolls around, so I'm going to buy it on PS4. Very interested to see what AMD is going to be announcing tomorrow, will play a big part into what kind of GPU I'll upgrade to from my 2GB 7870 - http://www.anandtech.com/show/7344/amd-announces-2014-gpu-product-showcase-webcast-sept-25-3pm-edt

My two cents there: if you were already thinking of buying an Xbone or PS4, you should just go for it. They'll never be more exciting than they are at the beginning and the state of PC gaming will undoubtedly be in flux around their release. Even though they don't promise to be wildly more powerful than PCs, the moving target of how games are developed, how much video memory they'll use and whatnot will be decided in the next year or so and you'll know for sure if a $300 4GB GPU is actually a worthwhile investment or if multithreaded CPUs are going to benefit gaming meaningfully (they haven't, despite threatening to this generation).

You are talking about a completely different computer than I am. You recommended a GPU literally twice or thrice as expensive as the one I did. Most people in the world don't care for buying an expensive gaming laptop and plugging it into their televisions. I feel like that's an obvious observation. So, while your method of PC gaming device doesn't favor a Steambox, others might. Like, anyone with a desktop gaming PC. Or, someone who doesn't want to spend $1500 on a gaming PC.