watch dodogg MAXIMUM PC TAKES A BITE OUT OF BAD GEAR
mance cost, and some drivers might fail with the
physical address extension enabled. The company
said it expects the next generation of OSes to
correct the problem. If you really want access to
all 4GB now, the Dog offers this option: Windows
x86-64 Edition will let you run all 4GB of RAM
(and more for other motherboards).OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN
Not more than 10 minutes after reading the March
Watchdog column with Newegg’s response to the “error”
in its camera ad, did I turn the page to find the Canon
Digital Rebel XT being advertised by Newegg for $563! I
tried to order it online and by phone and was told it was
also an “error.” That is two errors in three issues. If
Newegg isn’t being underhanded, it is at the very least
incompetent. Either of these reasons is enough for me to
spend my money elsewhere.
— Jim B.Jim was the first of numerous readers to report
the discrepancy in the March issue. Newegg’s
ad claimed to sell the Canon Digital Rebel XT for
$563.99—about $335 less than what the camera
normally sells for. The Dog went back to Newegg
veep Howard Tong, who told the Dog: “Newegg
again sincerely apologizes for the pricing error.
The recent mistakes in advertisements featured
in the magazine were the result of an issue in our
advertising process. We have corrected this issue
and no further problems should arise. Unfortunately,
the March advertisement went in before we had
completed the audit and made all the needed cor-
rections to our ad creation process. For readers’
troubles, we would again like to extend a deal on
the incorrectly priced camera in question. We will
continue to offer the black 8MP Canon Digital Rebel
XT with EF-S 18-55mm lens for an at-cost price
to us of $889.99 (as it is currently listed on our
site), with free shipping. We will also provide a $discount on this camera, good through June 2006.
Please ask Maximum PC readers to contact us
directly at [email protected] so we may assist
them with this offer.”
As Scotty said in episode 32: “Fool me once,
shame on you, fool me twice shame on you.” The
upshot is that Newegg has been quite responsive to
the Dog’s questions and while the second typo and
its timing are odd, the Dog thinks Newegg deserves
another chance. That, however, doesn’t mean we
won’t be watching. Woof.XTREMELY OLD SPEAKERS
I recently purchased a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
Xtreme Music card after Maximum PC’s nonstop brag-
ging about the new product line. I checked to make sure
the X-Fi supported 4.1 speakers and it states that it does
on the website. Upon installation of the soundcard, I
quickly discovered there was a problem with the Creative
FPS2000 speakers I own. All Creative tech support could
tell me is that Creative soundcards do not support all
Creative speakers. Is there a fix for this? If I am forced to
buy new speakers, do I buy Creative or Logitech?
— Garland R. LymThe Dog pinged a Creative official who told him:
“The digital connectivity on our soundcards has
changed such that the particular speaker system
you have mentioned, which we introduced about
seven years ago, does not connect through the
digital din to the X-Fi. Changing the connectivity
enables us to put in the A-D link for connecting to
the breakout box and the FlexiJack connector while
still providing the analog mic/line-in that works
without needing the breakout box. Without the din,
users should still be able to connect via analog.”
Garland, you’re sadly a victim of progress.
The FPS2000 set was part of Creative’s push for
digital speakers on the PC. Creative ultimately gave
up and these speakers (and a few other models) are
now like a human appendix. Because you have the
soundcard, your option is to run the FPS2000 in ste-
reo analog mode or simply dump the speakers for
something newer. Because you’re probably steamed
at Creative over the obsolescence of your FPS
set, the Dog thinks you’d probably get some satis-
faction by buying a pair of Logitech speakers, such
as the lovely Z-5500.NO WHINING
A spate of online chatter regarding the Dell
2405FPW LCD prompted the Dog to call for reader
input in the February issue. He wondered whether
owners of the 24-inch widescreen were experienc-
ing a high-pitched squeal or whine that Dell was
unable to fix? After a month of email, the vast
majority of readers reported that their monitors are
free of any whining problems (although a few had
other issues with the LCD and Dell’s service).Readers say there’s no squeal problem
with Dell’s 2405FPW.