In general, buying sensitive electronic components via EBay is chancey. It's far too easy for a hard drive or card even from a reputable manufacturer to require an RMA due to shock during shipping, electrostatic discharge, miscellaneous shipping damages, etc. Further, many manufacturer warranties only cover original retail purchases.

While I'm not one to buy extended warranties, I still want to be able to return defective equipment and service hardware should it go bad.

Good luck whatever you do, though!

Boz

The general consensus around here is to pair regular headphones with a Zalman ZM-Mic1 Clip-On Microphone. It will get you far superior fidelity at a much lower cost. The most-recommended set of cans is the Sennheiser HD555, but it's a bit over your budget unless you can find it used. If you really need to stick to your budget I use the Sennheiser HD 202 MK II (~$30), which is a very good pair of headphones for the money.

Some alternative headphones you might consider are the Sony MDR-Q68LW (~$22) or Beyerdynamic DTX 35 (~$43).

If you already have a pair of regular headphones, just pick up the Zalman mic, it's only about $10.

Happy gaming,

Boz

In Windows 7:

• Right-click on the desktop
• Click"Personalize"
• At the bottom-left click, "Display"
• You should now be able to select "Small/Medium/Large"

Turning on "ClearType" may also improve readability. I hope this helps!

Boz

Thanks for the link, and the advice! This has been the most helpful answer I've gotten.jshaas

The nice part about the Aperions is that you can order a set of towers, see how you like them, and if you love it just order the rest of the set. You can mix and match; get a beefy sub or just a punchy mid-sized one. The same with Infinity, I suppose, but the customer service makes it a snap at Aperion without a middle-man.

Don't pigeonhole yourself; the more you look around and take your time, the better your likelihood of finding both a store, deal, and brand you like.

Good luck!

Boz

The price on that Lenovo seems too good to be true. There must be a downside to it.PeelMyBanana

Gaming laptop means a lot of things to a lot of people. A cheap Lenovo with integrated ATI graphics can run most modern games without major issue, and you've got a budget twice that. It's not going to get you native resolution with 4xAA and everything maxed, but it'd be alright on a budget.

Basically you want the best dedicated - not integrated - graphics card you can find. That'll almost assuredly be your best bet. Takea look at these and think about it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=32%7C34-215-037%5E34-215-037-TS%2C34-115-987%5E34-115-987-TS%2C34-146-848%5E34-146-848-TS

(Gamespot doesn't like the link, so you'll have to cut and paste it into your browser)

Good luck!

Boz

*edit* Gamespot made my post ugly!

About the best PC monitor you can get in each price range:

• ~$160 - ASUS VW224U 22-Inch Widescreen
• ~$200 - ASUS VW246H 24-Inch Widescreen
• ~$300 - ASUS VE276Q 27-Inch
• ~$480 - Dell UltraSharp U2410 24-inch (basically top of the line)

You just have to ask yourself: Is it worth it to you to spend the extra money to move up from one rung to another?

*Edit* I'm out of it when it comes to televisions. I haven't bought one since my CRT.

Good luck and happy gaming!

Boz

If you want your speakers to match, and I agree it's a good idea to timbre-match, then you'd be better off buying your set all at once. I know you want to piece it together, but the only real reason to do that would be due to budgetary concerns, and it sounds like that is not an issue.

All that said, you are the ideal candidate for a matched Aperion Audio system, in my opinion. The company is great and will let you audition in your living space (free shipping both ways). To be honest, you have a ton of options if you are just looking for speakers in that price range, but unless you want to build that's what I'd try first, personally. You'll be able to get a nice set of towers for music, a great sub, and surrounds to support movie watching.

Alternatively, I've always liked Infinity's mid-range speakers. Their CMMD cones are proprietary, and I've thought they were a great value. I used to be a huge Definitive fan, but they abandoned their old model to expand to larger markets (not that I blame them). I have not listened to the Energy speakers or KEF speakers that have become popular in the past five years or so, but the reviews are positive, and I know you can get Energy towers with a set of speakers in your range. You can try and find some DCM speakers in that range, as well, but it might be tough to find a matched set from a higher-end name at that price.

My advice is to visit a local high-end store, have a listen, go to Best Buy (I mean, why not, right?), and shop around a bit to find what's best for you. See if you can find a B&W, Paradigm, or Tannoy (I love Tannoys) dealer nearby. Take your time and make sure you've found what you want before buying.

Good luck,

Boz

What you are experiencing is a limitation with your headphones, not a limitation with your card. Besides, the card only needs enough voltage to provide your powered monitors with a signal. What you will do is set your PC volume to a particular setting and adjust the volume on the speakers (assuming you have powered speakers).

Ideally, you want to:

• Set your PC volume to zero and turn your monitors all the way up while playing some loud music with which you are familiar (you will hear nothing except the hiss of the monitor's internal amplifier)
• Turn up your PC volume until your new monitors start to distort *be careful not to turn your volume up too fast or allow it to distort for long* then back it down slightly.
• Turn the volume on your monitors down, and never touch your PC audio again

This is much the same as setting gain volume on a car amplifier. If you still use your in-game volume (if you switch to headphones, etc)., just note what the maximum when you do your initial setup so you can reset it whenever you want.

Happy gaming!

Boz

*edit* It could also be auto-clipping: Good call, swehunt!