Info and forum posts by 'Dazza001'

RE: Any truly outstanding films this year??

Enjoyed "The Proposition", "Inside Man", "The Ringer" and "The Weather Man", but "The Science of Sleep" is head and shoulders above anything new I`ve seen this year... a truly great film.

Dazza.

Lobster 575 - problem with predictive texting...

Hi all,

My g/f bought one of these the other day. Does anyone have one of these phones? The entry mode when writing a text msg seems to default to that sophisticated predictive one (iTAP?) that is way beyond her (and me)... it can be easily changed by cycling through the options when writing a message, but as soon as that message is done and you start over again from the menu it just goes back to the original setting. Anyone know of a way to get it to remember the setting? There`s nothing in the intructions and I`ve trawled the web. Thanks in advance...

Dazza.

The Butcher (Le Boucher) free in Saturday`s Independent

Just a heads-up that this great movie from "The French Hitchcock" - Claude Chabrol - is in Saturday`s edition. Well worth getting if you don`t already own it...

Dazza.

RE: What I watched this week (w/e Sunday, March 26th)

I have "White Zombie" on a DVD on its own (so not the triple feature you guys have), and the sound is much like you describe - quite a few places where it dips out. I guess it must just be the print that they sling on these cheapo discs...

Oh, a bit late, but for the week up until 26/3 I watched:

"The Ringer" - v. funny although it tails off at the end.

"Manderlay" - a long haul; OK, yet not quite as good as "Dogville", and it all felt a bit reheated.

"The New World" - loved the opening; very drowsy by the end.

"Derailed" - good, trashy noir-type flick with a nice twist.

"The Weather Man" - very enjoyable and one of the more interesting things of the year.

"Jaws" 3 & 4: Finally opened the 2/3/4 box set; remember seeing 3 as a kid; pity no 3-D this time around...

"Criminal": So-so stuff, but watchable and pretty tight at under 90 mins.

"Komodo": Silly big lizard flick, but not a totally bad one when accompanied with a few beers.

Dazza.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 28th March 2006, 22:52

RE: "Network Neighborhood" desktop icon?

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Dazza.

"Network Neighborhood" desktop icon?

Hi all,

The other day we were *finally* supposed to be getting broadband. I installed the software, modem, filters etc. As you would expect, there`s now a shortcut on the desktop to the ISP, but yesterday I also noticed the "Network Neighborhood" icon, which had also just been created.

The Broadband didn`t happen - and hasn`t happened yet - something about "no capacity at exchange", but I was just wondering if the appearance of Network Neighborhood seems fairly normal having just installed the modem etc? I have had a read online about it and understand what it is and how to hide it via the registry, but I was just a bit puzzled by its appearance - I`m not on a network (well, apart from the internet), and am simply using the one PC from home.

AV tests come back clean, but I just wondered if anyone can shed some light on this? And has anyone else hit the "no capacity" problem when starting up with Broadband? Hope it won`t be too much longer as we`ve waited ages already...

Thanks in advance,

Dazza.

RE: `on-speed` query.

Didn`t think much to it, to be honest. Our dial-up connection is rc[at]p but if you have a decent, stable connection you might have some joy (and let me know who you get your decent, stable dial-up from!!).
AFAIK, there just this one 7-day trial of OnSpeed knocking around, so try before you buy: here

Dazza.

RE: Broadband newbie needs help filters

Thanks, Wayne.

Dazza.

Broadband newbie needs help re: filters

Having had to put up with dial-up for ages, Broadband is finally available where I live. Before taking the plunge with an ISP, I have a question about filters.
Everywhere it says a filter is needed for each jack (or device?) used. My home steup is like this:
Master BT socket:downstairs. In this is an adaptor with the main DECT phone and Sky connected.
The master runs upstairs to an extension, and in this there is another adaptor which has a hard-wired phone connected plus an extension lead running along to the room where the computer is in (incidentally, for what it`s worth, the other DECT handest is also in the computer room, but obviously it doesn`t need a jack).
So... two sockets (master & extension). To be honest I`m not bothered about the hard-wired phone on the extension nor the Sky (which gets tied up anyway when using dial-up), but obviously would like to use the DECT phone when online.
So... how many filters do I need? I know some ISPs give 2 filters with their free modems (and I know you can buy more), but do I only really need one for the computer and one for the DECT phone? I`m not to bothered about the other things not working as long as it doesn`t affect the running of the internet/main phone.
Also, will I be OK to have my Broadband modem plugged into the extension cable that runs along from the upstairs extension socket? Some ISPs say this can bring problems but that is all we can do as there is no socket in the room with the computer.
Hope this makes sense... thanks a lot in advance for any replies.

All the best,

Dazza.

RE: online dvd stores that take cheuqe and postal orders as payment

Cd-wow.

RE: Can`t hear DTS! Help needed!

Thanks for the replies, guys. I`ve been doing a bit more reading around, and I can see that the budget player in question only sends the DTS signal out... there I was, making assumptions just because it had the official logo stamped on the front!
It (the amp) doesn`t appear to have a optical/coax digital in, but I`ll take another look (this is someone who couldn`t see the phono jacks on their Sky box first time they looked!); either way, I`m pretty happy with it as it wasn`t a big outlay and DVDs are sounding so much better through the speakers than they used to through the TV.
Off-topic: that Ronin is quite a nice little player for the money, but lately the drive has gone really noisy so I think it`ll go back before the guarantee`s up.
Thanks once again for the replies...

All the best,

Dazza.

Can`t hear DTS! Help needed!

Hi all,

I have recently bought a surround sound system, and thought this might finally mean I could hear DTS tracks on my DVDs (having previously just been greeted with silence when I tried them through the TV.)
The system is all hooked up, and seems to play DD5.1 and 2.0 with no problems. However, the DTS track (on several discs I`ve tried) is still silent. I have looked through my player`s setup menu, but can`t find anything under audio options that looks likely (and I`ve experimented with turning different combinations on/off) - as I understand some players have a DTS option that needs to be checked before it comes active.
Thing is, my player claims to have "DTS SP-DIF Digital Output" and has the DTS logo on the front(you can see the specs in a PDF here), but I don`t really get (dumb question time) why it only claims to have 2 channel stereo sound - or is this a totally separate issue from DD5.1 & DTS?
The specs mention "Coaxial digital output for external Dolby Digital and DTS decoders", but even if the player didn`t have an encoder, wouldn`t my surround set act as one?
Anyway, the manual (which looks fairly standard) doesn`t mention anything about DTS. I have the player hooked up through standard phono cables (the only option, really), and the only other inputs on my subwoofer/amp unit are for aux and game. I don`t think it has an input for a digital coax lead, but as I understand it that shouldn`t matter (sound quality issues aside, but it shouldn`t make the difference between hearing and not hearing DTS - although maybe I`m wrong on this!)
Any ideas? I`ve tried many combinations on the setup menu, but nothing is obvious for what might need to be enabled. Thanks in advance for any replies...

Dazza.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 11th May 2005, 11:04

RE: irreversible - possible slight spoiler

...and if I remember rightly, isn`t the actual guy who did it looking on and grinning as Albert Dupontel takes the fire extinguisher to that other guy? Just to rub in the horror of it that extra bit..

It always struck me that the guy who met that sticky end was killed mainly because of what he was doing/about to do to Vincent Cassel; whether he`d attacked Bellucci or not was almost by-the-by at that point, if you see what I mean (although of course that`s why they were in the club, and why Cassel picked a fight with that guy.)

Dazza.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 10th May 2005, 12:27

Pacific VCR (PV204) problem - anyone bought one of these?

Hi all,

Bought one of these last week, but on testing it out found that there was a bit of a problem when playing back a recording - small dropouts in the sound were obvious. I took it back and got a replacement, but this one seems to be the same - I even bought some brand new tapes to test it. Admittedly, the last tape I tried seemed to come out better than some of the older tapes, but if it`s going to be that sensitive I don`t know if it`s worth having. I mainly bought it to run a SCART through so I could watch DVDs on a portable TV in the spare room, but all the same I`d like it to record reasonably OK.
If anyone`s had one of these, I`d be interested to hear if that`s just what they`re like, or if I`ve just been unlucky with two machines in a row. Obviously, it`s only a budget mono VCR, but I thought the sound should be a bit better than that. I might return it and get the Sanyo that Asda are doing for around £40, but I`m not really planning on spending much more on a VCR.

Thanks in advance...

Dazza.

RE: Yet another Custom`s Question..

Some info in this thread.

Dazza.

RE: W/S TV broken - help/advice needed

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I`ve heard back from customer services and they`ve asked for a copy of the receipt, so we`ll see where that leads. I`ve also emailed the shop, telling them I think that 14 mths is very poor value for a fairly major purchase.

If it ends up costing into three figures to repair it, I think a new TV will be on the cards. Or should I say another new TV.

Thanks again,

Dazza.

W/S TV broken - help/advice needed

I purchased this model of TV in Feb 2004 (the Bush WS6674SIL); last night it suddenly cut out when it was on, and I can`t get the set to switch back on again - when I push the "on" button in, there`s just a faint repeated whistling sound, but the red light that normally comes on isn`t there and the remote control therefore can`t activate the TV.
I have emailed the helpline address given, but would appreciate any ideas from forum members. Obviously, the set is only 14 months old, which is very annoying. I am not sure what the best thing to do is - getting someone out to repair it could be expensive, or they might tell me it`s unrepairable - in any case, money spent on that could be put towards a new TV.
Any ideas, either specifically to do with the symptoms, or in general about where to take it from here?
Thanks in advance for any replies...

Dazza.

RE: In store sale at Game

Picked up the "Hellraiser" cube for £9.98 - was quite pleased with this as I`ve been thinking of buying it for a while, so I think that was an OK in-store price...

Dazza.

RE: Alien Head DVD Collection £99.99 - HMV

No, I think only films 1 & 4 have DTS tracks on this release...

Dazza.

RE: a very long engagement

I agree - a great movie. Saw it in France when it opened a few months back... looking forward to the eventual DVD release...

Dazza.

RE: Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost isn`t on DVD, but Paradise Lost 2 is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005MKOU/?tag=myrev09-21

The first one has been released on VHS (NTSC), but I think is deleted now.

I`m sure they`ve both screened on FilmFour, so it might be worth checking their listings from time to time.

Dazza.

RE: Elvis: Help Needed

*** Oops, sorry - redundant post ***

This item was edited on Thursday, 13th January 2005, 11:43

RE: pink panther cartoon box set

No, it`s just 100% Panther!

Perhaps the Inspector, Ant & Aardvark & Crazy Legs Crane might appear on another collection in the future?

A really great box set - superbly packaged, and with really nice menus and a nice booklet. You get the 124 original episodes, plus the opening sequences for the films & the Pink Panther Show. At 13 hours it`s really good value - probably one of my favourite releases of the year, and nice that it`s not been given a real rip-off price tag.

Dazza.

All-in-one remote £1

Bought a universal (9-in-1, I think) remote from Poundland yesterday... have tried it out so far on the TV, VCR & Sat Box and it recognises all three. Worth picking up if you need an all-in-one, or even for a spare...

Dazza.

RE: Star Trek First Contact £3.99

Picked this up for €4.95 the other day, so was pretty pleased with that - a really great movie (& I`m not a big Star Trek fan).

Dazza.

Master & Commander (1 disc): just over £10

I know there have been a few mentions of online deals offering this for £10 (blackstar?), but for anyone looking to pick it up instore I bought it in Silverscreen, who currently have a further 20% off all chart DVDs. As this movie was stickered at £12.99 it made it £10.39, which I thought was quite a good instore price.

Must say it`s the 1st time I`ve bought anything there as I always consider them to be quite pricey... it might be worth looking at some of the other stuff too (for example, new Buffy boxset £75 down to £60 - is this a good deal?).

Anyway, hope this is of interest...

Dazza.

RE: Pirates of the Caribbean - £9.99 at WHSmith

I think it`s also in the Woolworths` 2/£18 offer from today (don`t know what else is on offer in this deal). Virgin seem to be doing it for £10.99 but you`ll get £1 airtime back if you have a Virgin mobile. So all in all not much in it... a tenner (give or take a pound) seems to be the going rate.
Liked the movie - but is the stuff on the 2nd disc any good, though?

Dazza.

RE: help viruses

The Panda Activescan one is pretty good too.

Dazza.

RE: DVDCompare...also known as `Rewind` at times...has it gone?

Crrrraig Da-vid!!!

Sorry, couldn`t resist when I saw the title of this thread.

Dazza.

RE: Digital Camera - PC shutdown problem

Thanks, blodwin - advice appreciated!

Dazza.