200M I'm in two minds about Vivid 200

Anonymouse · 31-08-2016, 16:33

For a variety of reasons too complex and personal to go into here, I haven't had internet access for a while. Now things are sorted out, I can't decide what to go for. I was looking at Vivid 200 because a) I don't have, want or need either a landline or TV, and b) I'm planning to watch a fair bit of streaming video on Amazon Prime, Netflix or whatever, so I'd like it to be fast.

How reliable is Virgin cable broadband these days? Roughly what kind of speeds can I expect? My brand new laptop, the only device that'll be on broadband, is running Windows 8; the wireless adapter is Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 - I'm so out of date these days that I have no idea if this is a fast one or not. However, there are plenty of experts in these parts.

- oh, hang on, I'm an idiot - search for it on the internet and find a product brief, which I have now belatedly done. I can be a right prat sometimes.

I'll have a read of the PDF and that should give me some idea...

Kabaal · 31-08-2016, 16:56

I'd question whether you really need 200mb if it's just going to be you on a single laptop using it for streaming. For that purpose even 50mb is going to be more than fast enough for you, your streaming experience between 50mb and 200mb is going to be exactly the same.

General Maximus · 31-08-2016, 17:46

I was going to say what Kabaal said. If you look at the small print when you see ads for stuff like Amazon Prime and Netflix on tv it says "minimum 2mbps broadband connection required". The VM ad for 200mbits shows a cross section of a house with parents watching tv downstairs and then children upstairs playing games and doing whatever else. The reason why they market it like that is because when you are looking at these sorts of speeds you only make the most of them in a multi-user environment. You streaming on your laptop is going to use 20mbits/sec, who and what is going to use the other 180?

If all you are going to do is stream/watch tv then I would suggest going with an openreach provider such as Sky. VM aren't the best when it comes to streaming and congestion and without going into the details of network infrastructure you would be far better off taking a top tier Sky package of 76mbits for £34/month. Look at the last option bottom right here (Sky Fibre Max).

Khenryashley · 31-08-2016, 20:58

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php...d-package.html

Have a look at this.

General Maximus · 31-08-2016, 23:07

When they do the next price increase in February they should follow the same philosophy and increase all tier prices proportionately so that when they do the next round of uplifts all tiers can be realigned to 10:1.

Anonymouse · 01-09-2016, 14:39

Thanks, guys. Hmm. If I don't need 200M, I could go for a cheaper but still fast option. Granted I'll probably end up with a landline...but then again, who says I have to use it?

More thought and research are called for.

Having done a bit: re Sky Fibre Max - what's this '£75 prepaid MasterCard' business?

I've already got a credit card (with a £6000 credit limit!).

Ignitionnet · 01-09-2016, 14:46

They give you a card loaded with £75 to spend as you see fit. Kinda a cash back thing but on a card.

Anonymouse · 04-09-2016, 14:01

So I could just spend the £75 and that's it? Hmm.

I'm a hopeless retro games addict, and the games I like won't run directly on modern systems such as my Windows 8 laptop - so I've decided to build a legacy setup. I did try VirtualBox, and it works, but there's too much lag between screen action and sound effects; it's distracting. Plus the game display's limited to 640 x 480...on a 1600 x 900 screen. You can guess from that how far back in time I'm going - all the way back to the 16-bit days, specifically X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter.

I always loved that game. So tomorrow I'm off to Scan to get some advice; I'm apparently a bit out of date re PC building, as all the hard drives are now SATA and not IDE, which is all I'm familiar with. I might even end up just buying a bare bones system; we'll see.

So that £75 might come in handy...

Thanks, guys!

heero_yuy · 04-09-2016, 15:09

Sounds like you want something like my XP SP2 system with FX5200 graphics. This runs the original Doom 1, Quake, Heretic and other legacy games smooth as a cashmere codpiece.

But with a SATA 128G SSD, SATA 500G data drive, 1080P 27" monitor and maxed out RAM is still a usable day to day machine.

General Maximus · 04-09-2016, 16:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

[FONT=Arial]the games I like won't run directly on modern systems such as my Windows 8 laptop

right click the exe for the game, click on properties, compatibility, "run this program in compatibility mode for:" and take your pick. You may also need to specify some of the settings in the list below as well such as what resolution to run the game at.

Ignitionnet · 04-09-2016, 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

I'm a hopeless retro games addict, and the games I like won't run directly on modern systems such as my Windows 8 laptop - so I've decided to build a legacy setup. I did try VirtualBox, and it works, but there's too much lag between screen action and sound effects; it's distracting. Plus the game display's limited to 640 x 480...on a 1600 x 900 screen. You can guess from that how far back in time I'm going - all the way back to the 16-bit days, specifically X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter.

VMWare Workstation is your friend, dude

Runs many instructions straight on the hardware via a simple wrapper, removing the lag you are getting from VirtualBox.

It comes with a 30 day trial, and while I couldn't recommend it being a VMWare Certified Professional I have no doubt that there are somewhat less legitimate options available.

adduxi · 05-09-2016, 19:01

I second VMWare Workstation. Been a user since Version 7, now on 12 and it's great. Not too sure about hardcore gaming, but for everything else, I can't knock it

There is also something lurking in the back of my mind about ESX Server, I think it can access the Graphics Hardware directly?
ESX Server is also free I believe?

Ignitionnet · 06-09-2016, 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by adduxi

There is also something lurking in the back of my mind about ESX Server, I think it can access the Graphics Hardware directly?
ESX Server is also free I believe?

Yes indeed, it has GPU passthrough so the hypervisor passes everything straight to the hardware rather than virtualising it.

For something like this, though, running those older games it should be all good with VMWare Workstation, and ESXi will need dual-boot or a dedicated machine.