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Today I made the trip up to college for my junior year. Everything was going smoothly... unpacking, setting up my room, etc. All until I started setting up my laptop...
I use a USB hub to plugin all of my USB devices (Mouse, Keyboard, Printer, iPod). For some reason, in order for this USB hub to work, it needs to be plugged into the wall in addition to my computer.
The thing is... the end of the cable that plugs into my USB hub is VERY similar to the power cable that plugs into my laptop.
So, I unknowingly plugged my laptop power cable into the USB hub. About 20 seconds after I connected everything to the wall... the USB hub starts crackling. It sounded like gunshots. Lots of smoke came out of every opening.
I immediately unplugged everything, as all of my devices were connected to that USB hub when it started crackling. The USB hub continued smoking for a good minute.
Now, even when I plug them into the computer's USB ports directly... it doesn't recognize any of my devices.
My mouse is Razer Salmosa. I got it off ebay so I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a warranty. I'll have to buy a new one.
My keyboard was crappy and cheap. I've been wanting to get a different one.
My two big questions:
1) Do you think my devices permanently fried?
2) What keyboard should I get? Is there a legit keyboard thread on TL? I searched "keyboard" on TL but there are so many threads I don't know which to checkout. I'm looking for a simple, standard keyboard. Under $50. Where you can distinctly hear the sweet sound of each key when it's pressed down.
Feel free to post any nightmare computer stories of your own.
Thanks.
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If nothing is recognized anymore -then they're all probably fried. It sounds like what happened when a USB port on my EEE pc died, taking my flash drive with it...
As for keyboard, most people on TL use some generic Logitech (rubber membrane) keyboard... some argue that mechanical switches are not really good for games that require a lot of "spamming"
There are those who swear by their buckling springs and cherry mx switches, so just search "keyboard" and you'll get a huge list of threads.
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Korea (South)11602 Posts
are you sure your devices are fucked and not the USB ports on your computer? I would make sure that they are working first. If not, then hopefully you have a warranty through the school and get it fixed that way.
other than that, I always just use a cheapo keyboard that comes with your PC. I never see any use for something more extravagant with backlit keys or whatever. I know where the keys are, and you shouldn't have to be looking down at your keyboard anyways.
Just go to radioshack, bestbuy, circuit city, whatever is closest, and buy the cheapest one you can. That's what i do anyways, and I have had yet to have a keyboard fail on me.
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On September 07 2010 06:18 CaucasianAsian wrote:
are you sure your devices are fucked and not the USB ports on your computer? I would make sure that they are working first. If not, then hopefully you have a warranty through the school and get it fixed that way.
other than that, I always just use a cheapo keyboard that comes with your PC. I never see any use for something more extravagant with backlit keys or whatever. I know where the keys are, and you shouldn't have to be looking down at your keyboard anyways.
Just go to radioshack, bestbuy, circuit city, whatever is closest, and buy the cheapest one you can. That's what i do anyways, and I have had yet to have a keyboard fail on me.
Well the debate is about the switch type not about the labling/lighting of the keys lol... read a keyboard thread on TL and you'll see what the buzz is all about.
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I sell the QSENN SEM-DT35's. It'll be around $50 with all the tax and what not and since it's an older model it uses PS/2 instead of USB so you should be okay there 
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On September 07 2010 06:20 kOre wrote:I sell the QSENN SEM-DT35's. It'll be around $50 with all the tax and what not and since it's an older model it uses PS/2 instead of USB so you should be okay there
He says he's using a laptop. Laptops usually do not have PS/2 ports...
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I think my laptop's USB ports are fine. I brought a spare USB mouse with me and my laptop recognizes it on every port.
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Ahhh I just skimmed it and assumed he was using a desktop because not many people use laptop for gaming lol and this being TL and all ... my mistake. But back on topic, your USB drive is probably fine then, and since all the USB drives on a laptop are usually connected I'm going to guess all of them are good.
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On September 07 2010 06:27 kOre wrote:
Ahhh I just skimmed it and assumed he was using a desktop because not many people use laptop for gaming lol and this being TL and all ... my mistake. But back on topic, your USB drive is probably fine then, and since all the USB drives on a laptop are usually connected I'm going to guess all of them are good.
What? He just said the laptop recognizes his new mouse but nothing else... how does that mean everything else is fine?
EDIT: Do you mean USB ports or his USB devices O_o
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All of his devices that were connected when it started smoking don't work, but the one extra mouse he happened to have works when he connects it (that's because this mouse wasn't connected when the smoking started). So logically his ports should be fine but all of his devices would be gone.
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Like i said, I'm pretty sure my laptop's USB ports are fine. I brought a spare mouse with me that wasn't connected to the USB hub when it exploded. It works on every USB port on my laptop.
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3 years ago I was able to buy parts totaling $2500 for a custom build PC as a result of earning some college scholarships. I had one of the first Intel quad cores on the market, 4GB of ram, two nVidia 8800GTSs in SLi (alllmost the best video cards at the time, second to 8800GTX), and everything in between, along with a 24" widescreen monitor.
I bought this baby the summer before my freshman year in college, summer '07. Everything worked fine for several months, almost a year in fact. My high school friends were known for having amazing LAN parties back in my high school town, so every few weeks we would all drive home from our respective college towns with our new computers to kick some ass.
When we decided to spend most of spring break together playing multiplayer PC games at home, everything went as planned. Then, when spring break was over, I got back to my dorm and hauled my PC up the stairs and hooked everything up to get ready for school homework and gaming. But my computer didn't turn on.
I ended up thinking it was probably the ASUS motherboard, because when I booted without RAM and such, the motherboard gave no beeps. I called a bunch of different manufacturing companies but they all said "it's not OUR part.." So I just sent the motherboard back to ASUS for repair.
Motherboard gets back, still nothing, even though ASUS says it's repaired. I end up sending ALL of the parts back to all of the companies. EVERYONE GAVE ME A BRAND NEW PART AS REPLACEMENT EXCEPT FOR ASUS. STILL NOTHING. At this point it's definitely the motherboard that is the problem because they didn't repair it and didn't give me a new one as replacement, even though the board was still under warranty at the time.
That kickass computer has been sitting in a closet for the past 2.5 years now, during which time it's become rather mediocre or maybe slightly above average. And it's all due to my feud with ASUS. I could just buy a new motherboard and be set, probably, but I refuse to buy anything from them for at least 10 years.
Edit: I forgot to say the only motherboard that would work with all of the parts I currently have is made by ASUS.
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Update:
None of my devices have recovered.
2 days ago I ordered a new Razer Salmosa and some cheap Logitech keyboard. They've shipped but haven't arrived yet =(. I suspect they will arrive early next week.
So bored... I really can't play SC2 with this laptop keyboard and crappy old mouse. It only frustrates me. Searching for SC2 entertainment that I can watch to make this weekend not boring!
Maybe I'll actually stay up for GSL tonight O_O.
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EPT
