Info and forum posts by 'Steve Clark'

RE: Five for £30 on again at Virgin.

If you are flying off anywhere it`s 5 for £25.88 (I think) at Heathrow

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Steve
www.bagofspoons.net

This item was edited on Thursday, 15th April 2004, 08:16

RE: can you export from this to a pc? to burn to dvd?

There`s a serial port on the back, but it would take a while to download any video through that, even if it were possible. I`ve not dumped anything to tape yet, but it`s possible to do this whilst watching something else via the 2 SCARTs.

It`s a clever box that I`m happy with for now.

If you want to record Freeview on a PC it`s probably best to buy a TV card that does it, then you can capture the digital stream for best possible quality.
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Steve
www.bagofspoons.net

RE: Strange goings on with Simpsons Monopoly board game

I suspect it`s a model of the Manneke P*** statue in Brussels. I just did a Google, but can`t find a decent picture of the statue.

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Steve
www.bagofspoons.net

RE: Pace Twin PVR - installing larger capacity hard-disc

There`s a long thread on the www.avforums.com PVR forum about this. People have successfully changed to 80GB (40 hour) drives with little problem. The down side is the cost. 80GB is about £160 for a 2.5". This is for the Fujitsu which seems to be the preferred choice.

I just bought one of these and it`s a nice gadget. I`ll get by with what I have for now. Maybe by the time the warranty expires the drives will be cheaper.

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Steve
www.bagofspoons.net

RE: Anyone know where to get a SD 128mb card from @ a good price?

eBuyer have a Toshiba 128 for £29

http://*******.***/elh9

There will be a couple of quid for delivery on that, but you may as well grab some other bits while you`re there.

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Steve

RE: One For All Mosiac Remote Control

I`ve got the One for All 6. Costs about £20, but controls 6 devices (I`m using it for 5). Lots of devices already there and you can download others from the net (transferred by playing a WAV file and holding remote near speaker). It does my NTL box (Pace 4001). Battery life is currently infinite (running for a couple of years so far).

If you`re adventurous you can build a cable to link it to a PC for advanced programming.

I think it`s a remarkable device for the money. It doesn`t have a nice LCD display, but that would make it much more expensive.

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Steve
www.bagofspoons.net

RE: Home cinema speakers advice please

DPL2 is nice for TV, much better than standard DPL. It`s pretty good for stereo music too.

I`ve got the Yamaha HTiB-45 which gives all the formats and includes speakers for around £300. Sounds fine to me.

The speakers are available here

http://www.petertyson.co.uk/index.html?p=/offeronnsp220.shtml¦p

for £130+£5 delivery. Alternatively check out the 2nd hand ads.

Personally I`d go for a receiver that handles all the formats you want. Get basic speakers that can be upgraded later. That`s what I intend to do.

I`m wary of some of these sales as you can end up compromising to save a few quid.

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Steve

RE: Splash Dvd any good ?

I finally received one of the 2 discs I ordered in the £2 off sale this week. Yesterday I heard that the 2nd has been dispatched. So I should see it next week.

I just got a couple for my daughter`s birthday. That`s after Easter, so I should have them in time. They were very good prices, so I`m not complaining too much.

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Steve

RE: Cheap MP3 Player with Smart Media Slot from Novatech £39.99

It`s 3 quid cheaper at ebuyer

http://makeashorterlink.com/?K5C323004

This site has a decent picture, but a much higher price

http://www.losaltos.co.uk/en-us/dept_21.html

You don`t get track name display for that price, but still tempting.

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Steve

RE: green/static flashing on Acoustic Solutions 551

We`ve had one of those for about a year. Plays everything fine including Shrek (R1). I`d take it back. RS seem to be pretty good about exchanging.

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Steve

RE: Digitheatre DTS £300 - anything better?

Can`t better that price, but I`d just say that for a few quid more than that I got the Yamaha HTiB-45. Does the same job, but you also get Pro-Logic 2, more inputs and a radio. I`m happy with mine as my first surround system. PL2 is very good for TV and even some music. The Yamaha speakers are adequate. I can`t say how they compare to the Videologic, but you have the option of upgrading later.

About £320 inc at Unbeatable.

Just a suggestion

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Steve

RE: Cheapest Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition?

Doesn`t look like the Morrisons price was a mistake as I saw it there on Saturday. Better price than Play. I`m getting it for Xmas, so I have to wait.

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Steve

RE: Looking for a good home cinema system - Any Ideas

I got the Yamaha HTiB-45 for around £320, For that you get a good receiver and passable speakers that can always be upgraded later. Put that with one of the DVDs mentioned and you`re covered.

For me this was the best option to get all the audio formats I wanted (DD, DTS, DPLII).

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Steve

RE: CD Wow

I finally got around to trying out my R4 Monsters Inc on my PC which will only do R2. Apart from WinDVD playing up it worked fine. It does look rather good. It`s a shame I have to wait until Xmas to give it a proper viewing.

I`ve seen elsewhere about different regions having differences. e.g. R2 has symbols instead of writing. The R4 apparently matches the R2 in this respect.

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Steve

RE: CD Wow

I mailed them and got a standard reply saying that they don`t guarantee the region. I know they didn`t use to specify the region, but the MI disc was advertised as R2. They did mention that most R4 work on an R2 player. I`ll try crippling my player and see if it works.

I actually bought it as an Xmas prezzie for my daughter, but I ought to check it before then.

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Steve

RE: CD Wow

I just received the Monsters Inc double pack from them. It was advertised on the site as R2, but they`ve sent R4. From what I can see it`s exactly the same content, but could cause problems if a friend without multi-region wants to borrow it.

I`ll drop them a line and see what the situation is.

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Steve

RE: Star Wars: Aspect ratio question

In Mid-Bedfordshire we got it in 16:9 on NTL, but I had a couple of drop-outs, one of which messed up the sound synchronisation. I should have tried the other ITV we get, but didn`t think of it at the time.

I thought normal terrestrial had 14:9 with narrow bands top and bottom.

I only have the 4:3 special edition videos, so the widescreen was nice.

How many here saw it in the cinema back in 77? I sure did.

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Steve

RE: Which Acoustic DVD player?

I`ve got a 551 which works fine for me, but I haven`t seen a working macrovision hack and I have looked.

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Steve

RE: Pixilation (I think) on Acoustic solutions

There`s some comment on the picture quality on the Software forum under `So what do you think of LOTR? Possible spoilers!`

I`ve got a 551, that generally seems fine. I hope to borrow a friend`s LoTR some time soon. I`m waiting for the 4 disc before I buy.

Steve

RE: PLAY.COM downgrading REGION ONE importance?

R1 does seem to have vanished from the front page and is now at the bottom of the search options.

I was always more annoyed that you can`t search R1 and R2 at the same time for a title. It would make comparisons easier.

Maybe they are trying to make it less obvious that they sell R1, but for who`s benefit?

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Steve

RE: How Much Hard drive?

IIRC DV uses about 2GB for 5min. So for an hour you`ll need at least 24GB.

You`ll need to check how the disk is formatted as some formats only allow files up to 4GB which means breaking the video into chunks. I need to convert my data partition some time for this. I think you need NTFS rather than Fat or Fat32.

See http://makeashorterlink.com/?O67A43FE (Microsoft)

Steve

RE: Sony HT-BE1 `Babe`

I`ve seen it as well in a local shop. The speakers are very light. I didn`t get a chance to hear it. Won`t the Sony shop do a demo?

Steve

RE: acoustic solutions connect to creative labs dtt 5.1 digital

The outputs on the player are line level, not for speakers. If your Creative Labs has a digital input then use that. Should sound great.

Steve
Still stuck on Pro-logic :-(

RE: 32

I hope you noticed my winking smilie on the brainwashing comment.

I accept that Sony make some very nice kit. Their design is some of the best and they are very innovative in their technology. They also have a good marketing department. I just think it`s too much of a generalisation (?) to say they have the best quality and reliability (for the price).

I know people who will always buy Sony. It`s made even easier by them having their own shops.

Personally, when I`m buying kit I`ll read the reviews (as many as possible), read the forums and check the prices. If Sony come out on top then that`s what I`ll go for.

I think that the only Sony kit I have is a very old stereo amp that I inherited from somewhere. It may get pressed into service some time.

Steve

RE: 32

I hope none of you buy our Hitachi that`s going back this week to Box Stupid. It`s been in twice to repair the Pro-Logic, and come back twice with `no fault found`. I now know that the connector that switches on the surround amp is dodgy, but the outcome is that we are getting a new set after my other half had a good moan at them.

The set originally came from a local dealer who was much cheaper than the majors, but they shut down and gave the business to BC. We carried on paying the same rental.

I suppose that as long as you can get some sort of guarantee with an ex-rental and find any faults before it expires it could be a big deal.

Nice to see that the Sony brainwashing system is still working ;-)

One of our replacement TVs was an old Sony 28" and it was crap.

Steve

RE: Not many bargains in Washington DC

Went to a Best Buy last night and picked up Spaceballs and Pi for $9.99 each. Of course they add local tax, but still not bad. It`s a massive store and worth a look if you`re over here. It`s funny to see so many TVs, but no widescreen apart from the rear projection and flat units.

There seem to be some bargains in digital cameras, but check on warranties.

Steve

Not many bargains in Washington DC

I`m spending this week in DC on business and obviously I wanted to see what DVD prices were like. So far I`ve been in Sam Goody and Borders book shop. Prices for new titles vary between $20-30. With $1.5=pound that`s not too exciting. Borders had some sale titles for $10, but nothing that grabbed me. CDs seem to be around $16.

I suppose with the on-line dealers we have now there won`t be so many bargains here. If anyone knows of cheaper shops here then let me know. I may try a Blockbusters for ex-rentals some time.

Washington is very warm and humid, but generally a nice city.

Have a nice day

Steve

RE: Yamaha HTiB-45

Having S-Video and component switching on the amp means you can send the better quality signals through it rather than basic composite. If you have enough SCART sockets then plug everything directly into the TV, but if like me you have more devices then you will need some sort of switch and having the amp do it when you select that device just seems to be a handy solution.

I currently have a bodged setup with a cable box going via the VCR to a simple switch box that also takes the direct cable output and an S-Video from a PC. It`s a mess and I`d like to get an amp that tidies it up and makes it family friendly. An extra £50 seems a bit steep just for that, but apart from that I can`t see any difference between the 430 and 530.

Steve

RE: FREE £5 voucher for Blackstar. e.g Armageddon 2 disc = £6.50 inc delivery.

I`ve got my voucher, but am trying to decide if it`s worth using. Blackstar are generally more expensive than places like Play so there`s little to be saved. Memento for £10.40 is a good price and there`s the usual dross in their bargain bin. I`m not that desperate to increase my collection.

Steve

RE: Yamaha HTiB-45

I`ve seen that www.leconcepts.com have the 430 for £200. I`m debating between that and the 530 which gains S-Video and component switching for an extra £50. I know it`s not ideal to put video through the amp, but something has to be switched somewhere and the DVD would go direct to an RGB on the TV.

The Eltax Atomic speakers for £270 look nice. Are they any good?

I can`t buy anything for a few months yet due to building a house. I`m hoping there will be more bargains by then.

Steve