Thanks again. Yes, GT5 is out and it's truckloads of fun. Like most games, it is not perfect and far from what you would expect from a car guy for car guys. But it is fun and I will get hours and hours of enjoyment from it.
I was able to download the rfactor demo. I think I have 40 minutes or so left of play time. I find the program very interesting and loaded with potential, especially seeing that rF2 is on the horizon. I was able to run the HDMI from my laptop to my receiver and then out to the TV. This gave me video on my big screen though a little sub standard in terms of intensity. I see this being an issue more with my 5+ year old rear projection Toshiba that has a max resolution of 1080i. Nonetheless, works well enough.
A couple of things I noticed. The program ran very smoothly. Except for about once a lap the frame-rate would freeze for about .25 - half a second. It was very slight but noticeable and would be very distracting for a dedicated racer. Is this common? I have an Alienware M17x9(I7-720QM, ATI Radeon HD 4870) laptop that is designed for gaming so I can't imagine it's my hardware, especially on a 5 year old title, unless I don't have something optimized or set correctly. As far as graphics go, yes, not as good as the current titles for PS3, but acceptable. I would have to imagine rF2 will be a huge upgrade.
I was extremely impressed with the sound, very good. Some of the finer audio details were really interesting like chassis squeaks after throttle lift. I also liked the huge amount of adjustment that could be made to the car. A person could go crazy trying to study up on their setups, but a very appealing feature. I could not find how to change my car to a manual transmission but I didn't want to waste my 60 minutes of demo time trying to figure out game function.
ForceFeedback notes. I found some of the settings but again I rushed through them because I want to spend my demo on the track, not in the menu. I feel resistance in my G25 but little to nothing on the FFB side. How do you guys feel the FFB is on rFactor? Is it good or just mediocre? I have to say I've driven a lot of recent PS3 titles that have really done a good job with FFB but the new GT5 game takes the cake. It is really good, I can't say that enough.
All in all I find the rFactor demo an interesting experiment. And I think I will return to play with it some more just to try and familiarize a little with the program if not experiment with the capabilities of my laptop. I will really be keeping an eye out for what rF2 will have in store.
Please contribute anything to add. I have found all your information very helpful. Thank you.