Botheration

My father-in-law just got a new computer. We elected not to get a video card with it, because Laura had given me a video card and flat-panel monitor that she had gotten from a friend before her college graduation.

However, problems arose: despite the fact that the video card we have is an AGP video card, and we carefully bought a computer with an AGP slot, the video card doesn't fit the computer's slot. (Apparently there are multiple versions of the AGP protocol, and the card is an earlier version. Grumblegrumble.)

Furthermore, the display uses a DFP connector, and the DFP connector is apparently obsolete--no video card available at Best Buy has a DFP connector, for example.

Les wants a flat panel display, because it suits his desk better. So, it seems to me that the best approach is to get him a video card and an adapter to convert the video card's output to DFP. All the DFP adapters I've seen on the net convert DVI, so think we need a video card that outputs DVI. (A pity, because I have an extra VGA-out video card.) That way, he can use the flat-panel display now, and if it burns out, he can get a DVI flat-panel display and use it with the card.

My questions for y'all:
Do y'all agree with my logic there?
Do you have recommendations for a DVI-out video card? (Les has no great need for speed or 3d graphics.)
My web searching indicates that there are multiple flavors of DVI output, but I don't quite understand the flavors. What sort of DFP adapter should I get to work well with a DVI-out video card?

Many thanks.

O Bitter, Bitter Fate

Despite the manager's promises on Saturday, the Giant Eagle did not have boneless skinless chicken thighs tonight.

D&D Miniatures

Today, I've been looking at Wizards of the Coast's web pages about their miniatures line. This includes a Miniatures Handbook with more detail on using miniatures with D&D, and a miniatures combat game based on a stripped down d20 ruleset, with randomly packaged prepainted miniatures.

It looks kind of interesting, but I'm ambivalent. In particular, I like the idea of snapping up prepainted miniatures for my D&D game, but the minis in the current Harbinger gallery don't seem to match the sorts of monsters that tend to come up in my game. On the other hand, the next expansion is called Dragoneye, and that offers a lot of promise of stuff that might be relevant to me.