What Have You Done Today - (Computer Version)
- Thread starter tlowr4
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- 26,911
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
Pardon me if I'm showing my age discussing this, but I learned today about Bluetooth. I had a chance to better understand what makes Bluetooth so useful and so capable. I have been considering new ways to upload and download files from my Android devices to my PC without needing to connect them. I am somewhat considering getting a USB Bluetooth adapter for my PC to better be able to upload/download files from my Android devices to my PC or from my PC to my Android devices. I am considering getting one because one of my apps, which allow for WiFi transferring of files, sometimes doesn't work. And so rather than physically connect the device to my PC's USB hub, I am looking at other ways to port over material to my Android device without the need for WiFi and without the need of physically connecting my device(s) to my PC. Learning about what makes Bluetooth so useful has been what I've done today.
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Rather than make an entire thread for this question I figured I'd just ask here.
Let's say I have an 8-socket mains adaptor, I want to make sure that the eight devices I plug into it won't draw more than 13A from the mains socket on the wall. Do I just add up the power consumption of the devices and divide the total by the mains voltage (220V RMS)?
In other words, does the P = VI formula apply to AC devices? I ask because I want to hook up three monitors, a PC, a 360, three PS3s, a G27 and a powerline ethernet adaptor up to the two sockets I have available whilst also leaving room for more stuff in future (maybe some speakers, UPS, an external PSU for DIY projects and any other powered devices).
Let's say I have an 8-socket mains adaptor, I want to make sure that the eight devices I plug into it won't draw more than 13A from the mains socket on the wall. Do I just add up the power consumption of the devices and divide the total by the mains voltage (220V RMS)?
In other words, does the P = VI formula apply to AC devices? I ask because I want to hook up three monitors, a PC, a 360, three PS3s, a G27 and a powerline ethernet adaptor up to the two sockets I have available whilst also leaving room for more stuff in future (maybe some speakers, UPS, an external PSU for DIY projects and any other powered devices).
BobK
Premium
- 7,020
- Massachusetts, USA
Best answer is a 220V version of this gadget:
Failing that, the answer to your question is a definite "yes and no". Working with AC you have phase angles and power factors and messy stuff like that, which is why you have "volt-amp" ratings and wattage.
Having said that, I would be shocked and amazed if just applying the classic P=IE formula wouldn't do the job for you. Keep in mind, however, the current surge when stuff is first turned on. Especially if you're using a switch to turn everything on at once. Should that be a problem, slow-blow fuses or circuit breakers can go a long way towards dealing with that.
Failing that, the answer to your question is a definite "yes and no". Working with AC you have phase angles and power factors and messy stuff like that, which is why you have "volt-amp" ratings and wattage.
Having said that, I would be shocked and amazed if just applying the classic P=IE formula wouldn't do the job for you. Keep in mind, however, the current surge when stuff is first turned on. Especially if you're using a switch to turn everything on at once. Should that be a problem, slow-blow fuses or circuit breakers can go a long way towards dealing with that.
Last edited by a moderator:
- 35,423
- Downtown North Dakota
- Cy-Fi
@BobK - I've edited your posts together. 
@neema_t - Ideally, you should be able to look at the back of your devices and get the amp draw off of a label. If that's not available, using a site like this and plugging in what you know (220V and the wattage draw (which can typically be looked up if there is no label)) will give you the amperage. As Bob mentioned, you also have a inrush current when you fire things up but that's why circuits are typically only loaded to 80% capacity.
@neema_t - Ideally, you should be able to look at the back of your devices and get the amp draw off of a label. If that's not available, using a site like this and plugging in what you know (220V and the wattage draw (which can typically be looked up if there is no label)) will give you the amperage. As Bob mentioned, you also have a inrush current when you fire things up but that's why circuits are typically only loaded to 80% capacity.
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
@BobK, @TB
Thank you both, that's some good advice right there. I completely forgot that inrush current was a thing, or rather, I forgot all these things have transformers in them and transformers are inductive... I imagine two sockets can power all that stuff but I'll have to do the maths when I actually have all those devices, so far my setup hasn't changed from when I had three 226BWs and they consume twice as much power as U2312HMs do. When(/if, as it depends on how cheap they get before I stop playing GT6, and if GT6 has multi-monitor support added later) I add the PS3s and want to have the 360 connected permanently I'll work it out properly.
Thanks again!
Thank you both, that's some good advice right there. I completely forgot that inrush current was a thing, or rather, I forgot all these things have transformers in them and transformers are inductive... I imagine two sockets can power all that stuff but I'll have to do the maths when I actually have all those devices, so far my setup hasn't changed from when I had three 226BWs and they consume twice as much power as U2312HMs do. When(/if, as it depends on how cheap they get before I stop playing GT6, and if GT6 has multi-monitor support added later) I add the PS3s and want to have the 360 connected permanently I'll work it out properly.
Thanks again!
- 3,204
- 2.2L Camry
- NissanSkylineN1
- Xbox??? Who is this Xbox??
I just updated to Android 4.4.1! Feels much better!
- 5,494
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
@NissanSkylineN1 CyanogenMod?
BobK
Premium
- 7,020
- Massachusetts, USA
My opinion, Dropbox completely blows Google Drive away. Your Dropbox folder behaves exactly like any other folder on your machine. You drag files into it, just like any other folder. The only difference is the file automagically appears in any and all other machines with a Dropbox folder linked to the same account. Similarly, drag stuff out and it also automagically disappears from all your Dropbox folders. I routinely move files between my windoze box, linux box, laptop, and two tabets. You can also link a subdirectory within your Dropbox directory to any other Dropbox account, thereby sharing the contents of that folder with the owner of the other account although stuff in there counts against both users' limits. You can also make a directory world-readable for sharing with the entire world.
A new free account can store 2GB. Complete a 7-step tutorial and you get another 1.75GB in 250MB increments. If you refer another person, and they sign up for an account, you both get another 500MB. You can refer people until you top out at 16GB, I suppose you can refer more but you won't get more space for it. You can also purchase space, starting at ten dollars a month ($9.99 for the pedants) or 100 dollars a year for 100GB.
The only thing I use my Google Drive for is to store a spreadsheet I need to access from both my desktop and my tablet; the builtin spreadsheet app makes that work very well; sharing spreadsheets between my desktops and tablets is problematic since I don't have an app on the tablets to open .ods files and it opens .xls files formatted funny.
A new free account can store 2GB. Complete a 7-step tutorial and you get another 1.75GB in 250MB increments. If you refer another person, and they sign up for an account, you both get another 500MB. You can refer people until you top out at 16GB, I suppose you can refer more but you won't get more space for it. You can also purchase space, starting at ten dollars a month ($9.99 for the pedants) or 100 dollars a year for 100GB.
The only thing I use my Google Drive for is to store a spreadsheet I need to access from both my desktop and my tablet; the builtin spreadsheet app makes that work very well; sharing spreadsheets between my desktops and tablets is problematic since I don't have an app on the tablets to open .ods files and it opens .xls files formatted funny.
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- NissanSkylineN1
- Xbox??? Who is this Xbox??
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Joel
Premium
- 8,141
- Halifax, NS
- Noob616
See, problem for me is that if I get another two monitors then I need to get a second GPU which means I'd need a new case and motherboard and...wait that's not a problem, I'll just win the lottery.Triple 23's. Niiiice. 👍
If I ever come across another 24", I might have to steal it for my desk at work. Two isn't quite cutting it.
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
It's probably worth pointing out that I intend to hook these all up to one GTX 680... And play Arma 3 that way... In fairness, the ~20fps I was getting seemed to be a CPU bottleneck because changing the graphics settings made hardly any difference, so I'm hoping it won't be too bad. Project CARS, on the other hand, might be a problem! 3x1680x1050 was fine, 3x1080p isn't too many more pixels. Right?
- 26,911
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
After more than a year using Android "Gingerbread," today marks my first usage of Android "Jelly Bean." This is a wonderful interface as I got a Hisense Sero 7 Pro tablet PC for Christmas. So I am just getting used to the "Jelly Bean" interface in this installment of what I've done today.
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
I bought a Dualshock 4 for my PC. If you ever use Big Picture mode and prefer Sony controllers I would recommend you do the same, there's a simple driver (can't remember the name) that maps the inputs as Xinput commands so it is recognised as a 360 controller and it works perfectly. You can also use the trackpad (but apparently not in-game from what I've tested in Gemini Rue and Just Cause 2, so you probably can't use it to play mouse enabled games in Steam's Big Picture mode, sadly) and change the colour of the LED, also some Bluetooth configurations work but I don't think Toshiba receivers or Windows 7 are supported. Also it supports up to four controllers, so that's pretty good. Rumble works too. Well worth it in my opinion!
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Is that a Dell Ultrasharp I see there? Even if it's not, if it's a Dell IPS monitor you've made a fine choice my friend.
Sent from my Dell U2412M
Also I got given a 1st generation wi-fi 32GB iPad yesterday (because we bought my mum an iPad Air for Christmas and everyone else here has one already) so I'm wondering what to do with it. As it's limited to iOS 5.1.1 I can't really use it for a whole lot of new stuff (like streaming, video out, etc.) so I think I might mount it on my sim rig and use it as a virtual dashboard/accessory monitor. I did want to have an HDMI switch on my PC's HDMI port and then have the TV and an accessory monitor plugged in at the same time, but the switch I got - the only one I could find that allowed one output to be switched between two monitors and not the other way around - doesn't like the 15 metre cable I need to connect to my TV, and finding a tiny but high-resolution monitor for cheap was next to impossible, so a free iPad will do even if there's quite a bit of lag. Then again as it would just be for temperature/chat/download monitoring it doesn't need to be super responsive.
I have so many toys now.
- 9,171
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
The 24" isn't just an additional inch, it's 16:10 (1920x1200), I have one for my Mac because I prefer 16:10 for work, the 2312HMs I've got are excellent too and work better for gaming on because a surprising amount of games are built for 16:9 and don't respond well to any other ratio. I had to clean them the other day (my brother uses my PC for DayZ and got coffee all over two of the monitors, he has since been b) and that anti-glare coating is a bit of a pain... A distiller water spray and microfibre cloth sorted it out eventually though.
I think I want an Ouya, specifically for Kainy. I don't know if it supports a 360 controller and/or a Dualshock 4 so I'm a little apprehensive, I don't want to be stuck with that awful Ouya pad. But £100 for game streaming isn't bad. Should I? Shouldn't I?
- 1,516
- Florida
- MARCUSH17
- MARCUSH16
Converging the file system of my server's storage drive from NTFS to ReFS to reak the benefits. Since ReFS is not supported by some of the Win32 storage APIs, I have a separate NTFS volume to store data that is needed for some of the other roles installed on my server. I'm also running rabin fingerprint based data duplication for my PDF files (I'm going to expand data duplication to other file types when testing is finished). Windows Server 2012 rocks.
