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12 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

It’s only the 3 GB version, but it seems to run pretty close to it’s 6 GB bigger brother.  I won’t be playing anything super graphics intense so I’m hoping it should be fine for a while.  GTX 1070’s go for $400!  I might upgrade later on if need be.

I’m super excited to get my setup running!  :w00t2:  VR is so much fun.  If you haven’t tried it you’re missing out!

That's a nice thing about your choice to get a desktop rather than laptop -- upgrading is so much easier.  I think laptops usually have the graphics chip permanently attached to the motherboard, but putting a new card into a desktop is a simple matter.

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23 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

:blink: What?  Great, now I need to fly down to Australia to check this out.  :lol:  How’s your PSVR setup?  Still having fun with it?

@Dingfelder there are eGPU setups for laptops with Thunderbird ports.  It’s basically an external box that houses powerful video cards, a power supply, and optionally a hard drive.  That opens up more video upgrade options for laptop users.

https://egpu.io/

https://www.gamingscan.com/best-external-graphics-card/

 

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Just now, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Hey @esaj!  Are you back from your holidays?  I was worried when I heard about the Tsunami in Indonesia.  Are you guys okay?

We returned on the 22nd, no tsunamis or flooding in our trip. In Vietnam, we were about 400km away from the area that flooded due to heavy rains, I think it was towards the end of November.

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Glad to hear that you guys made it home safe!  When you watch the news reports about Indonesia, some of those locales looked awfully similar to places you showed in some of your photos.  Any plans to update us with a short trip report story?  I think a few of us would be interested to hear about this Megacation!  :w00t2:

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12 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Glad to hear that you guys made it home safe!  When you watch the news reports about Indonesia, some of those locales looked awfully similar to places you showed in some of your photos. 

Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia look very similar on the surface, the temples in Vietnam are more Chinese-style though, whereas in other countries with lots of buddhists they're very similar. Of course also the Angkor-area in Cambodia is different. Ex-French-colonies have more french-style houses, but the general "rectangle" -architecture of most houses seems to be very much the same in all the countries. You can take photos from a small towns in any of these countries and not really tell them apart unless there's something more distinguishing.

 

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Any plans to update us with a short trip report story?  I think a few of us would be interested to hear about this Megacation!  :w00t2:

At some point, yes, a lot of people have been asking me to do something like that. Probably won't happen until next year or maybe if I write it in parts in the order we travelled. 

Our route was

(Thailand) Bangkok - Ayutthaia - Sukhothai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - (Laos) Huay Xai - Gibbon Experience in the jungle - Huay Xai - Pak Beng - Luang Prabang - Vang Vieng - Vientiane - (Vietnam) Hanoi - Sa Pa - Ha Long City - Cat Ba - Ninh Binh/Tam Coc - Hue - Khe Sanh - Quang Nam - Hoi An/Da Nang - (Cambodia) Siem Reap - Battambang - (Thailand) Koh Chang - Bangkok

 

DpAIOew.jpg

One of my favorite pictures from the trip, Kuang Si waterfalls in Laos.

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So overall it was a great experience that not many people have a chance to take?  Have you been bitten by the travel bug now and will be continuing to keep the Finnish vacation averages high?  I had a chance to take a month off work to travel down the Oregon coast.  It was such a beautiful area that is so close, but I've never had a chance to see it before. 

Looking back, it was well worth the time spent meandering down the Pacific Coast Highway seeing all the beaches, Red Wood Forest areas, and State parks.  Trips like that leave a lasting impression in your memory, and you realize how small of a space we tend to inhabit in our day to day lives without realizing how big and wonderful the world is and how much scenic wonder you don't see until you make an effort to go to some different locations.  Life is short.  You just don't get that many opportunities to really enjoy seeing the world out there.  

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1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

So overall it was a great experience that not many people have a chance to take? 

Yeah, it was great... I'd claim that more people do actually have the chance to go on such a trip, if they really want to, but many (like myself before) say that they "can't", usually because of no time (work, I quit my job before leaving) or no money (it's not insanely expensive although not really cheap either with all the flights etc, I burned through a part of my savings but it was definitely worth it). Once you get to SE Asia (for us, the flights there and back were about 600€/$650 per person), you can get by handsomely with about $30 per day per person, even less if you opt to get guesthouse/hostel/hotel room without AC or private bathroom, or sleep in a dorm and eat in cheaper places. There were a lot of days where we spent about $40 total for two persons (including everything, hotel room, all foods & drinks, transport, tickets to sights etc.), but then we also went for some more expensive activities, namely the Gibbon Experience is crazy expensive (about $350 per person for 2 nights / 3 days), but most sights and activities are something like from couple of dollars to $20-30. Some budget travelers get by even with $10 per day (in the cheapest countries, which nowadays seem to be Laos and Vietnam, Cambodia has become more expensive over the last couple of years because of the Chinese pouring money into the country building resorts, casinos and such), but then you won't be doing much else than eating, drinking and sleeping. On the other end of the spectrum, a 5-star hotel or resort alone can be three figures per night and some activities can be quite expensive.

All in all, we spent about $6000 (so about $1000 per person per month) + flights, could have gone cheaper, but we always opted for a room with AC and private bathroom. Leaving out a couple of the most expensive activities would have saved over $1000.

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Have you been bitten by the travel bug now and will be continuing to keep the Finnish vacation averages high? 

I doubt I'll do this long trip any time soon, if ever again, but maybe a shorter one at some point. I'd like to see Pakse and 4000 islands in south of Laos, we only travelled in the north, and we used the 15-day visa exemption, in hindsight should have gotten the 30-day visa and spent a little less time in other countries.

 

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I had a chance to take a month off work to travel down the Oregon coast.  It was such a beautiful area that is so close, but I've never had a chance to see.  Looking back, it was well worth the time spent meandering down the Pacific Coast Highway seeing all the beaches, Red Wood Forest areas, and State parks.  Trips like that leave a lasting impression in your memory and realize how small of a space we tend to inhabit in our day to day lives without realizing how big and wonderful the world is and how much scenic wonder you don't see until you make an effort to go some place.  Life is short.  You just don't get that many opportunities to really enjoy seeing the world out there.  

Sounds like a nice trip. I specifically chose SE Asia to see a culture completely different from ours, plus I hate the cold winters here, >+30C and sunshine seemed just perfect for me  :P  You'd think coming from a cold country it would take time to adjust to the heat, but I just loved it all the way.

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If I never saw another -32°C winter, I’d be peeeerfectly fine with that!  This VR setup should hopefully help escape my confines of this reality a little bit at a time!  :w00t2:

Hey they got a VR arcade in Finland!

https://www.likefinland.com/travel-tips-and-articles/scandinavias-first-virtualreality-park-pikseli-arcade-was-opened-in-vantaa

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17 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

If I never saw another -32°C winter, I’d be peeeerfectly fine with that!  This VR setup should hopefully help escape my confines of this reality a little bit at a time!  :w00t2:

Hey they got a VR arcade in Finland!

https://www.likefinland.com/travel-tips-and-articles/scandinavias-first-virtualreality-park-pikseli-arcade-was-opened-in-vantaa

How on earth did you find that out?

It is in north part of Finland, Lapland, where there are almost no people...at least compared to the southern part.

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1 hour ago, Unventor said:

How on earth did you find that out?

It is in north part of Finland, Lapland, where there are almost no people...at least compared to the southern part.

Vantaa is in south, right next to Helsinki.

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1 hour ago, esaj said:

Vantaa is in south, right next to Helsinki.

Well I thought their website said Lapland, that is in north ..hold on who turned my map upside down again 😉

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Beautiful waterfall pic.

One of the things that always struck me in reading about Vietnam was Stickman's claim for some reason, Vietnamese refuse to use mosquito screens, though every other country around it does.  Seems perverse, like when an Indonesian friend told me that because of the Indonesian tradition of using your hand to wipe your butt, even Indonesian bathrooms with toilet paper dispensers usually don't stock any toilet paper.  Just unnecessary to the point of being perverse.  Mosquitoes can be unbearable in tropical countries.

Re laptops being able to use external graphics cards, thanks Hunka.  I remember reading some years ago about such set-ups, but they were ridiculously expensive for what they did, and specific to the manufacturer, as in, HP or Apple might have something like that, but it would only work with their own computers. 

But it's been a long time since I needed a topflight computer anyway.  I mostly play games from GOG.com, short for "good old games," and the vast majority of them are at least a few years old, so they tend not to push the limits graphically.  These days I'm playing an action RPG, Grim Dawn, which is a lot like Diablo and its clones.

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There’s always something new and improved when it comes to computers.  It’s difficult to keep up with the latest and greatest.  The latest in SSD tech is confusing unless you read up all the time which I haven’t.

https://www.velocitymicro.com/blog/nvme-vs-m-2-vs-sata-whats-the-difference/

This VR stuff is really fun to try out.  @Unventor I see there are several in Sweden if you Google search for “Sweden VR arcade.”  That’s how I found that one in Finland.  I’m surprised there aren’t more over there since in my city alone there are multiple locations with different companies offering facilities.  If you haven’t tried it out you definitely need to!  It is so cool.  Arizona Sunshine is a really fun zombie game to play in VR.  For colder climates and even warmer ones, VR is a real great escape to jump into.

@The Fat Unicyclist  are you still having fun with your Playstation VR setup?  It’s top bad these are still so expensive as it would be more fun having two VR stations at home.  For that shared VR experience you still need to go to the arcade unless you have deep enough pockets to buy two set-ups and have enough room for them unless you play with friends in online VR.

For Star Wars fans, there’s also the Secret of the Empire wireless VR experience in some locations that might be worth trying out.

 

 

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That stuffz not for me, unfortunately. As the old joke goes, I get seasick looking in a glass of water.  FPS's make me want to barf, literally.  I used to put Doom 3, I think it was, on just to feel my stomach churn when i felt bloated and wanted to take a long-overdue poop.  Worked like an absolute charm, five minutes at most.  

I seriously believe it is worth buying for many, many people just for that.  

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@Hunka Hunka Burning Love Well I am not into VR. Major reason is the cost and that I have 2 cats that gets really unhappy as soon I use a over ear headset, just imagine how they get when they can't see my face too, and I can't see them where they are. 

 

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2 hours ago, Unventor said:

@Hunka Hunka Burning Love Well I am not into VR. Major reason is the cost and that I have 2 cats that gets really unhappy as soon I use a over ear headset, just imagine how they get when they can't see my face too, and I can't see them where they are. 

 

<Snicker>

Pussywhipped?

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1 hour ago, LanghamP said:

<Snicker>

Pussywhipped?

Nope not at all. I decided to use my money on wheels instead 😉 and safety gear.

As for games I have pc fairly well spec. I7 64gb ram 2x512gb sad evo950 on m.2 from Samsung. Gfx evga gtx980 closed watercooled, same goes for the cpu. 27" 2550x1440 @144fps asus gaming screen.

But I don't use it as much as before for gaming. However the power is good for video editing. I am just getting used to Blackmagics de vincy resolve 15 editing software. 

And xbox one(retired) Xbox one x, ps4(retired) and ps4pro. So when I game I tend to use console instead. On a 55" 2017 oled tv from LG, beautiful picture, and their Dolby atoms surround sound bar SJ9.

So when I came almost always one of the cats lay in my lap purring. A very calming feeling. And nice warming too in a cold county as Sweden in winter season.

So I don't complain, I just don't jump on the vr band wagon just yet.

As for the EUC I to the day of today amazed the KS18L haven't disintegrated yet, due to the evil voodoo eyes stare it have received from my cats. It is rare to see such pure hate in animals as they show as the huff and puff and hiss dancing around it when I trolley it into the hallway.

No so much now as it the beginning but they still stair the wheel down until it is powered down. Funny creatures 🐱🐈😾

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22 hours ago, Dingfelder said:

That stuffz not for me, unfortunately. As the old joke goes, I get seasick looking in a glass of water.  FPS's make me want to barf, literally.  I used to put Doom 3, I think it was, on just to feel my stomach churn when i felt bloated and wanted to take a long-overdue poop.  Worked like an absolute charm, five minutes at most.  

I seriously believe it is worth buying for many, many people just for that.  

Have you tried VR?  I get nauseous too playing FPS sometimes, but this VR stuff is a game changer!  It transports you right into the game so there’s no dizzyness at all.  If you get a chance try it at a VR arcade, it’s really worth the $25 for an hour.

20 hours ago, Unventor said:

@Hunka Hunka Burning Love Well I am not into VR. Major reason is the cost and that I have 2 cats that gets really unhappy as soon I use a over ear headset, just imagine how they get when they can't see my face too, and I can't see them where they are. 

 

The Oculus Rift is on sale for $449 CAD or less with referral code.  It’s best with the extra sensor so add $139 for the Touch package.  At first I never thought I would get into buying a VR home setup, but the price isn’t too bad now. With a rig like yours it’s a no brainer!  My main hurdle was the cost of and needing to get a good enough PC with a powerful video card.

There’s a cool military sim called Onward VR which I might get.  Also Budget Cuts looks like a fun game.

 

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So @Hunka Hunka Burning Love yet another teaser and I dare you...

And you are simply going to hate me afterwards...wildly 😀😁...

Try googling....for Mad Box...

remember it has consequences should you dare to accept this mission 😜👹 

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:dribble:  Sweet!  Sounds like a console right up my alley!  But I'll believe it when I see it for an affordable price.  It looks like they have ambitious plans, but sometimes budget constraints can bring a product back to reality.  I hope it sees the light of day in 3.5 years!

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3 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

:dribble:  Sweet!  Sounds like a console right up my alley!  But I'll believe it when I see it for an affordable price.  It looks like they have ambitious plans, but sometimes budget constraints can bring a product back to reality.  I hope it sees the light of day in 3.5 years!

Loooong time to xmas 😉

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23 hours ago, Unventor said:

So @Hunka Hunka Burning Love yet another teaser and I dare you...

And you are simply going to hate me afterwards...wildly 😀😁...

Try googling....for Mad Box...

remember it has consequences should you dare to accept this mission 😜👹 

Sorry for being the usual pessimist, but...

Even if they manage to build the thing and push the manufacturing costs low enough to sell it at a sensible price, one of the biggest hurdles will be getting enough game studios behind it to produce content (games). They're going against big names (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, possibly others, I haven't followed up on game consoles in a long, long time) that have very deep pockets and large market shares. Even if the system delivers what's promised, very few people are going to buy one if there aren't but a handful of games and no certainty if there are going to be more. I think that's what killed Atari Jaguar in the 90's (could be wrong though).

But let's hope they prove me wrong  ;) 

EDIT: Checking on the Jaguar's demise, it's more complicated than just limited game catalogue (44 cartridge titles released over the entire lifetime of the console between 1993 and 1996, plus a handul more after the system was already discontinued, and for the CD-drive accessory, see the wikipedia quote below): while ahead of its time (being a 64-bit system in 1993!), the hardware was complex and a real headache for game programmers. Probably also a bit of a chicken & egg -problem, as the sales were never anything big, and producing triple-A -titles was expensive even back then, so probably many game studios didn't want to take the risk of entering the platform.

 

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The system's crippled multi-chip architecture that was difficult for most developers to program games for it,[5] combined with Atari Corp.'s severely limited financial resources[6] and poor commercial performance in the market resulted in a limited library of only 44 titles released in cartridge format during its official commercial run, with 6 more titles released when the system was discontinued

 

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This VR is really fun!  And a little nausea inducing depending on what you are watching.  I am finding most games to be fine.  It’s just the 360° video content like offroad dirt biking down a mountain that can make those cookies want to come back up.  The video quality on this Oculus is good for games, but with real life video there is a slight screen door effect where it looks like there is a fine mesh you’re looking through.  Most of the time you don’t notice it.

I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement, but for $540-1800 depending on if you need a gaming PC, it’s well worth the money getting into VR at home.  For those with a PS4, adding on a PSVR setup might be worth trying.

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19 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

For those with a PS4, adding on a PSVR setup might be worth trying.

If you have a PS4, adding a VR headset makes a world of difference - even to watch 3D YouTube content.

There is one issue I have found though with all VR headsets... They get in the way if you want to drink from a glass (assuming you can find your glass). So gaming / watching while you drink wine (or rum) is difficult, but beer out of the bottle works just fine...

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