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I just wanted to share a little humerous (depending on your point of view
I guess) incident I had today at Best Buy. My wife and I were
just looking around.. no intentions on purchasing anything today.
I wandered over to the computer hardware section and started looking at
the graphic cards. They didnt have the StealthII S220... which is
what I plan on purchasing first, then maybe a 3dfx supported card... havent
decided yet.. anyway.... I was picking up packages,
reading them etc.. and I "Professional Sales Representative" approached
me and asked if he could help me. I said Im just looking at cards...
im trying to decide what I want and/or need and Im still learning about
these things (mostly from all of you!!! Thanks again =) ).
He proceeded to say he was a game "expert" and that he could probably answer
any questions I had. So I said I was most likely going to purchase
a StealthII S220 card because i want rendition since N2 is the primary
game I play on my computer but I may add a 3dfx card in the future.
First... he told me that he wasnt sure N2 supported Rendition... that it
was a Direct Draw or something like that.. but after looking at the box
he said I guess it is Rendition. He then proceeded to tell me I was
correct for wanting Rendition based cards because MORE games support rendition
than 3dfx and that 3dfx games are just a fad!! He then
said the only problem I would have with the StealthII S220 was that it
will NOT accelerate 2D or windows at all... only rendition supported
games!! I proceeded to tell him Im not expert at this, but
I think your facts are a bit messed up. I told him all the research
Ive done has led me to believe that 3DFX is the most supported standard
going at this time. He said 3DFX was only good for DOS and DOS is
dead. He then asked me about my system...
( Gateway2000 P-166 with 32 megs of RAM ATI Rage II card (sucks)
).
<BR>I told him Im going to up the RAM to 64 megs... He told
me that it was a waste of money... that my 166 is a "bottleneck" and the
extra RAM will render little help. He then tried to get me to look
at some card Ive never heard of... Trident or something.. not
even sure to tell you the truth and said it would make windows95 and all
games run in windows95 fly!! It was also like $149 I
think. Anyway... I had had enough of his "expert" advice
and said thank you and walked over to the input devices. They had
a Thrustmaster Nascar wheel set up next to the T2 and some CH pedals and
wheel. I started comparing the T2 to the Nascar... I
actually like the feel of the Nascar wheel better along with the resistance
and the pedals looked and felt much more secure (although this is hard
to tell with them not hooked up and getting slammed while playing!).
<BR>He proceeded to tell me the Nascar wheel was made cheaper than the
T2 and wouldnt last as long. He also said the CH set was pretty good
for the price.
<P>At this point... I was getting a little PO at all his input and I proceeded
to ask him if he had EVER even played a racing sim before ????
He said he has ... but I had my doubts.
<BR>I asked him what he owned... he said he currently has a
266mhz with 64 megs of Ram with that "Trident??" card I guess it was and
a Fox Joystick ??? Never heard of that joystick before.
So Id like to know where he got his expert info on wheel and pedals !!!!
<P>Sorry for this long winded story... just reiterates the
"Professional Sales Representatives" job of misinforming the uninformed
new computer user. My point... do your research before purchasing!!
Reason #1 for me reading this newsgroup.... not everyone will
ever agree on something, but where better to get info that from those who
use the devices and software everyday!!!
<P>Scott B. Husted
<BR><A HREF="http://www.racesimcentral.net/~sbhusted">http://www.racesimcentral.net/~sbhusted</A></HTML>