A bunch of questions.

Discussion in 'Silicon (v)Alley' started by overheatedmud, Aug 8, 2011.

  1. #1 overheatedmud, Aug 8, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 8, 2011
    I finally decided to do something about my speaker and screen setup, so now I have a bunch of questions.

    1. I have my sound output coming from my pc split going to speakers on my desk and my better speakers on my dresser. But when I want to listen to music I turn on my better speakers but it can get annoying getting up to turn it on. I know I sound lazy and I am. Does anybody know of a way to turn them on and off remotely? I was thinking I should look for something that I plug into the outlet and plug my speakers into that, and it would turn on or off the flow of electricity to whatever is plugged into it. But does anything know of something like that? I would search for it myself but I don't know what exactly to search for. The speakers I'm using are Logitech Z2300's.
    tl;dr - How can I turn my speakers on and off with a remote?

    2. I have my tv on the wall above my dresser with my xbox and ps2 going to it. I want to switch it so the sound comes out of my better speakers instead of the tv speakers. I tried to achieve this by getting a 1f/2m 3.5mm splitter and an 3.5mm adapter for my xbox. But when I use this to connect my computer and xbox the sound gets really quiet and I have to turn the sound up to max to hear it well. Is there a way to connect multiple devices to one speaker set without having a huge box? Like I was picturing a little box that has buttons to choose what input I want to listen to.

    3. I have my computer hooked up to my 20" monitor that displays at 1680x1050 resolution and my 42" tv that doesn't seem to fit any other resolution other than ones that are 768 pixels tall, even though its a 1080p tv. So I normally have it at 1360x768. But there is no way to display the same picture on two screens at the same time at different resolutions in windows, so is there and box or software that will let me do this?

    4. Is there any program that will let me stream sirius online radio without having the website open?
     
  2. Not recommended since it's a little hard on your speakers, but:

    [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Switch-F7C01008q-Energy-Saving/dp/B003P2UMNK]Amazon.com: Belkin Surge Protector w/Remote Control[/ame]

    If it isn't working the way you've got it, I don't think so. There is a reason that receivers exist (a receiver is the 'big box' that you're thinking of). You buy one receiver instead of 26 little adapters for your bunch of cables, and it can equalize the volume/etc. Of course receivers can easily run a couple hundred bucks so I can see your hesitation, but if you tried without and it just won't work, you might be stuck with that option.

    Yes, you can mirror your displays. Windows 7 I know can do it pretty easily, but if you're on XP or Vista I think it might be easier to go through the NVidia control panel or ATI Catalyst Control Center depending on what type of graphics adapter you have.

    XaMp studio edition / XaMpd desktop
    StarPlayr.com
     
  3. My dad may have an old receiver somewhere (thanks for telling me the name, I could not think of the name to save my life). I was just trying to avoid that because I have everything on top of my dresser and I was trying to keep it semi-clean. And you can mirror displays but I want to mirror it and display it at two different resolutions. I know I've heard of it being done but I wanted to see if anyone here has done it before. Thanks for the help though.
     
  4. I've definitely mirrored displays with different native resolutions before, on Windows XP using the nVidia software that came with the driver download ;) The only thing I can't remember, is if I actually had to set them to the same resolution and let the widescreen stretch it out, or if I was able to leave the widescreen at its native resolution.

    I admit it's a rare request since usually people would prefer an extended desktop, but in this instance I remember the woman had one widescreen monitor and one 'square' monitor. She wanted everything mirrored to the widescreen monitor so she could turn it the other direction when training her employees who were sitting on the other side of her desk.
     
  5. I played around with the nvidia control panel and it will set both displays to the same resolution if I want to duplicate them. The reason I want this is because if I open boxee or a game, it will open on my monitor because that's my primary display. But if I have it set to extend, I couldn't find a way to make those open on the second monitor. And since the screens are on opposite sides of the room, it got annoying when my mouse went off the screen because there is no way to not make the position in windows like it is in my room.
     

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