Products for deployed soldiers - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

xepherys · 05-06-2007, 08:01 AM

Hey all...

Our MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) facilities here are pretty much piss poor. I'm looking to build a couple of simple gaming systems for the guys here to use. I was wondering if any of you TFPgamers might be able to point me to a company that would be willing to steeply discount some products, as I'll likely be doing some of this out of pocket (taking a pool from the guys). I've approached Newegg, but would love to hear some suggestions. Thanks!

Dilbert1234567 · 05-06-2007, 09:38 AM

koodoes to you, besides newegg i don't know of any, but you can always send a bunch of emails off and maybe you'll find a nice one. you may want to approach the card manufactures too,

xepherys · 05-07-2007, 03:51 AM

Yeah, I have emails off to Mushkin, OCZ, nVidia and Asus at the moment. We shall see...

Lokus · 05-07-2007, 07:32 PM

Maybe Amazon would be willing to help? They don't specialize in gaming gear but they certainly offer it.

xepherys · 05-07-2007, 10:03 PM

Lokus, thanks. I'll send them a letter.

MontanaXVI · 05-10-2007, 06:47 PM

checked with zipzoomfly.com or tigerdirect.com yet?

Lasereth · 05-10-2007, 06:50 PM

Contact nvidia or ATI and say you'll plaster posters with their name on them around a few places if they send some products your way. I mean put it more elegant than that but I've seen it work before.

xepherys · 05-12-2007, 04:15 AM

well, we'll find out for sure in a couple of weeks, but nVidia is the first to respond and looks to be pulling through for us. I emailed their Marketing Director who passed along the email to someone in his department who is "putting a couple of gaming systems together" for us. <3 nVidia. Being loyal to them is worth switching from AMD to Intel ;-)

I'll let you guys know if I get any other responses. Thanks for the input!

xepherys · 12-02-2007, 06:31 PM

So far things have gone pretty well in the donation department. Anyone have any hookups or ideas that could net us some XBLA / MS Points cards? It seems that with lackluster internet connectivity out here, Live! isn't an option for gaming, but a lot of the guys play a fair number of XBLA games. Getting some points for some of the common systems would be nice. Thanks!

remy1492 · 12-02-2007, 11:16 PM

Not sure which FOB or base you are at. The first thing we did when deploying to a new tent city was run CAT-5 cable by the hundreds of feet to link up Xboxes and external drives for sharing. The local network contractor or IT guys might be able to help in other hardware like cases and mobos.

In 2003 northern afghanistan we set up a 5 CPU network for games out of spare mil computers and a few upgraded vid cards. The only problem was that they were constantly occupied with the starcraft/BF/etc freak gamers. Face it, you cant play starcraft for only 10min

The other issue is PSUs frying, in Al udeid we were on British 220 unstable power, an APS was absolutely necessary. In Balad we are on US 110 and its a lot cleaner and stable, PSUs live longer. So Id use APSs or get extra PSUs.

good luck on the donations front. Kodiak donated a pallet of chew our way in 04', Dragon donated sunglasses to our unit in 03 and those boy scouts always send wet wipes.

Rekna · 12-04-2007, 08:50 AM

You should build a computer add a few classic gaming controllers to it and then download hundreds of roms and let people play there old favorite games. I've wanted to do this to my mythtv box for a while but haven't had the time.

I'm sure the younger guys would think it was lame but the guys who grew up playing these games would have a blast. Think about playing some good old fashioned contra, TMNT, or spy vs spy!

blktour · 12-05-2007, 07:51 PM

what our section did when we went out to iraq. was run everyone in thier "pods" cat 5 to a cisco switch, then used a "point to multi-point system, via satellite to one main station, then used a dish to use a Greece service, and got like internet connection to our pods, and it cost us about $300 each person, with a total amout of soldiers being 70, and we used this for a payment for the whole year we were there, and for the initial cost of hardware.. it was pretty cool..

took alot of man hours and lots of overtime.

xepherys · 12-05-2007, 08:27 PM

we have internet. It sucks and costs an arm and a leg, but we all have ethernet hookups at our racks (well, all of us who pay). We've also got some 360s and PCs through donations. Now I'm just trying to get MS Points to use to buy some arcade games on those systems. A bunch of us have pitched in for a few games and so we're not hurting by nay means. Just be nice to get some arcade games to play. I also need to try to get some more copies of CoD4. We have a boatload of personal 360s now and the couple MWR... we just need some 8 on 8 Army vs. Navy games going :-p

Thanks for the tips everyone.

05-06-2007, 08:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
xepherys <3 TFP Location: 17TLH2445607250	Products for deployed soldiers Hey all... Our MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) facilities here are pretty much piss poor. I'm looking to build a couple of simple gaming systems for the guys here to use. I was wondering if any of you TFPgamers might be able to point me to a company that would be willing to steeply discount some products, as I'll likely be doing some of this out of pocket (taking a pool from the guys). I've approached Newegg, but would love to hear some suggestions. Thanks! __________________ The prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group of MILF is almost impossible... -- Emmanuel Pinol, Governor of Cotobato My Homepage

05-06-2007, 09:38 AM	#2 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	koodoes to you, besides newegg i don't know of any, but you can always send a bunch of emails off and maybe you'll find a nice one. you may want to approach the card manufactures too, __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

05-07-2007, 03:51 AM	#3 (permalink)
xepherys <3 TFP Location: 17TLH2445607250	Yeah, I have emails off to Mushkin, OCZ, nVidia and Asus at the moment. We shall see... __________________ The prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group of MILF is almost impossible... -- Emmanuel Pinol, Governor of Cotobato My Homepage

05-07-2007, 07:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
Lokus I can't think of a good title Location: East Bay Area, CA	Maybe Amazon would be willing to help? They don't specialize in gaming gear but they certainly offer it. __________________ The black wind howls...

05-07-2007, 10:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
xepherys <3 TFP Location: 17TLH2445607250	Lokus, thanks. I'll send them a letter. __________________ The prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group of MILF is almost impossible... -- Emmanuel Pinol, Governor of Cotobato My Homepage

05-10-2007, 06:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
MontanaXVI Junkie Location: Go A's!!!!	checked with zipzoomfly.com or tigerdirect.com yet? __________________ Spank you very much

05-10-2007, 06:50 PM	#7 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Contact nvidia or ATI and say you'll plaster posters with their name on them around a few places if they send some products your way. I mean put it more elegant than that but I've seen it work before. __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

05-12-2007, 04:15 AM	#8 (permalink)
xepherys <3 TFP Location: 17TLH2445607250	well, we'll find out for sure in a couple of weeks, but nVidia is the first to respond and looks to be pulling through for us. I emailed their Marketing Director who passed along the email to someone in his department who is "putting a couple of gaming systems together" for us. <3 nVidia. Being loyal to them is worth switching from AMD to Intel ;-) I'll let you guys know if I get any other responses. Thanks for the input! __________________ The prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group of MILF is almost impossible... -- Emmanuel Pinol, Governor of Cotobato My Homepage

12-02-2007, 06:31 PM	#9 (permalink)
xepherys <3 TFP Location: 17TLH2445607250	So far things have gone pretty well in the donation department. Anyone have any hookups or ideas that could net us some XBLA / MS Points cards? It seems that with lackluster internet connectivity out here, Live! isn't an option for gaming, but a lot of the guys play a fair number of XBLA games. Getting some points for some of the common systems would be nice. Thanks! __________________ The prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group of MILF is almost impossible... -- Emmanuel Pinol, Governor of Cotobato My Homepage

12-02-2007, 11:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
remy1492 Crazy Location: CA TX LU	Not sure which FOB or base you are at. The first thing we did when deploying to a new tent city was run CAT-5 cable by the hundreds of feet to link up Xboxes and external drives for sharing. The local network contractor or IT guys might be able to help in other hardware like cases and mobos. In 2003 northern afghanistan we set up a 5 CPU network for games out of spare mil computers and a few upgraded vid cards. The only problem was that they were constantly occupied with the starcraft/BF/etc freak gamers. Face it, you cant play starcraft for only 10min The other issue is PSUs frying, in Al udeid we were on British 220 unstable power, an APS was absolutely necessary. In Balad we are on US 110 and its a lot cleaner and stable, PSUs live longer. So Id use APSs or get extra PSUs. good luck on the donations front. Kodiak donated a pallet of chew our way in 04', Dragon donated sunglasses to our unit in 03 and those boy scouts always send wet wipes.

12-04-2007, 08:50 AM	#11 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	You should build a computer add a few classic gaming controllers to it and then download hundreds of roms and let people play there old favorite games. I've wanted to do this to my mythtv box for a while but haven't had the time. I'm sure the younger guys would think it was lame but the guys who grew up playing these games would have a blast. Think about playing some good old fashioned contra, TMNT, or spy vs spy!

12-05-2007, 07:51 PM	#12 (permalink)
blktour Psycho Location: Anchorage, AK	what our section did when we went out to iraq. was run everyone in thier "pods" cat 5 to a cisco switch, then used a "point to multi-point system, via satellite to one main station, then used a dish to use a Greece service, and got like internet connection to our pods, and it cost us about $300 each person, with a total amout of soldiers being 70, and we used this for a payment for the whole year we were there, and for the initial cost of hardware.. it was pretty cool.. took alot of man hours and lots of overtime.

12-05-2007, 08:27 PM	#13 (permalink)
xepherys <3 TFP Location: 17TLH2445607250	we have internet. It sucks and costs an arm and a leg, but we all have ethernet hookups at our racks (well, all of us who pay). We've also got some 360s and PCs through donations. Now I'm just trying to get MS Points to use to buy some arcade games on those systems. A bunch of us have pitched in for a few games and so we're not hurting by nay means. Just be nice to get some arcade games to play. I also need to try to get some more copies of CoD4. We have a boatload of personal 360s now and the couple MWR... we just need some 8 on 8 Army vs. Navy games going :-p Thanks for the tips everyone. __________________ The prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group of MILF is almost impossible... -- Emmanuel Pinol, Governor of Cotobato My Homepage