Frequently Asked Questions

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Enjoy the quality of games with PS2's excellent joypad, as graphically PS2 is very much better in every respect to the old Playstation, having 32 Mb of RAM, a 128-bit running at 300 MHz and a 150 MHz Sony graphics chip that can do about 66 million polygon per second.

It�s a fact that PlayStation 2 isn�t as fast as a PC when tested against a Geforce 2 Ultra and AMD 1.5 GHz on the first person shooter Red Faction!

However generally PS2 games are better than the original Playstation, however the graphics are not as good as if you were playing the game on your PC.

It is worth pointing out that the PS2 also plays DVD films, so if don�t have a DVD player you can use your PS2 and save yourself some cash.

There is a new 'slim' PS2 version which is 75% smaller than the orginal and this will be available before Christmas. But if you can wait then PS3 will be available for purchase around early 2006.

Check out here what broadband providers support Playstation 2

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Services such as IG Index sent real time information to your PC, you can chart the movements of stocks, currencies and commodities all at once with a split screen, however without broadband you will struggle to trade and keep pace with movements in your selected bets.

You really need a 1 Meg Broadband connection for these types of services. To use these services that require real time information to be streamed to your PC you will need an unlimited broadband service - check out our best buy table for the latest 1 Meg broadband deals.

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DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It is a name that encompasses a group of technologies, the most common being ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.

DSL technologies make use of your existing telephone line. It splits the signal into two, one for voice communications and the other for the high speed data connection. The data line uses a range of frequencies not used in normal voice communications.

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"Lag" is the result of high latency between your computer and the game server. Ping is a measure of latency (see previous question).

Take the example of a game like Quake: if an enemy player decides to shoot at you, the co-ordinates of that shot has to travel from that person's computer to the game server. Once at the server, the decision is made that you were shot. This unfortunate news has to then travel from the server to your computer, at which point you see the effects of the shot (e.g., death).

Normally this happens so fast that you don't notice the delay, but when latency is increased, the time between the enemy's mouse click and your death can be noticeable. When someone says the server is "lagged", it means latency has increased beyond acceptable levels.

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Why is the latency so high? One reason is because the electrical pulses (or light pulses, in the case of optic fibre) have to travel around the globe and back (15 thousand kilometers down the Southern Cross Cable is approximately 80 milliseconds at the speed of light through fibre optics). Another reason is because there are more intermediatary routing points between you and the destination -- each one adding as much as 20 milliseconds delay to the trip.

For games that require split-second reaction, such delays are unacceptable. Use a local game server if possible.

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The Xbox 360 will go on sale during 2005 offering high-definition graphics, multimedia functionality and a dramatically different online plan.

The 360 will pack a powerful technological punch, with an advanced IBM Power-PC processor and next generation ATI graphics chip. The machine will once again feature a hard drive for users to store saved games, music and more. This time, the drive will be 20GB (versus the current 8GB drive on the Xbox).

It will also be detachable, allowing users to take their data to friends' houses, and upgradable.
The system will support both wired and wireless controllers -- and comes wi-fi ready, allowing users to connect wirelessly to the Internet.

The real multimedia functionality ties in with the 360's wireless capabilities. The machine will automatically connect and stream digital media -- including video and digital pictures -- stored on any PC running Windows XP

Check out here what broadband providers support xbox

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We are paid for referring you to the broadband supplier�s web site and you signing up for broadband with the supplier.

You will soon be able to sign up for your chosen broadband service on the Broadbandchoices web site.
Our international software providers along with ourselves and the broadband suppliers are currently working on this.

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If you like our service please tell your friends, if you don�t like our service then please tell us

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We aim to be the number one dedicated broadband site in the UK allowing consumers to be able search and find the best broadband products available.

Our postcode line checker tells you if you can get Broadband and our wizards aim to guide you to a broadband package that best suits your web surfing needs

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Please tell us how we can improve our service by emailing your comments to:

improve@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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BroadbandChoices.co.uk Ltd is an independent website providing information about broadband providers and their products for the UK home consumer market.

BroadbandChoices.co.uk Ltd was formed to help home consumers choose the right broadband package.

We work with all the main broadband suppliers to try and give the consumer the widest choice of broadband products to choose from. Collectively we have been working in new media for over five years with the owner and founder having externsive experience in software and telecoms.

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Most of the Broadband suppliers featured on Broadbandchoices use BT�s asymmetric DSL service to deliver their services, for its ADSL which particularly suits the needs of broadband home users.

BT has been required to let competitors use their �local loop� to provide whole ADSL on a mass scale. ADSL splits the standard telephone line into separate channels for voice and data so you can make and take calls even when you are online. This is another big advantage over dial up.

With consumer Broadband ADSL, downloads run faster than uploads, which suits consumers surfing the net as most activity is downloading music and information. The term ADSL is more technical now as the most people use the more friendly word Broadband.

Distance related limits for the most popular broadband services have been removed. More than 99.8 per cent of lines connected to a broadband exchange should now be able to get an ADSL broadband service. BT tries to ensure that you can get 2mpbs however most homes should be able to experience broadband at, at least 1mpbs speeds.

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This area is mainly focused on the business customer. Symmetric DSL services offer the same broadband speed for uploading and for downloading information. Broadband Symmetric services are designed to be particularly suited to businesses that regularly need to send and receive large amounts of data.

Broadbandchoices can offer these services to business where contention ratios of 1:1 or 5:1 are on offer or if you need to connect offices for LAN or WAN connections please telephone us for details 0870 055 9500

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TEST TEST BT's core network infrastructure is now mainly digital and carries voice and fax calls, commercial and non commercial data, emails and internet traffic which is massive amounts of information. It can do this quickly on optical fibre connections. The traditional ordinary telephone line between the home or office and the telephone local exchange is generally made of copper cable which carries the same information but much more slowly.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies, aka broadband, increase the speed and volume of information that can be sent to your home. You can download and experience internet web pages, video, graphics, music, and text in real time. It is this technology that will drive media in the next ten years and why every household will have broadband.

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