Info and forum posts by 'Mike Osborne'

RE: Is it worth getting a Plasma fixed these days????

Remember the sale of goods act relates to the retailer and not the manufacturer. You need to take this up with your retailer. Also, if you paid for the TV with a credit card that company is jointly liable under the consumer credit act. Your local Trading Standards may be able to assist with advice and a sample letter. Last advice I received was that it is considered reasonable that a TV should last for about 5 years without needing repair. I successfully had all repair bills paid for a TV that was 18 months old. At four years old they may only agree to pay a limited amount.

RE: I`m after Free Video editting software, and I`m not a spammer : )

There used to be tutorials available on how to use Mpeg2Schnitt. Essentially the imported file must be split into separate audio and video. I used a tool called PVAStrumento to do this and you can select this tool to write the .idd files required by Mpeg2Schnitt at the same time. Never had any error messages using this process. Of course you have to recombine the files at the end of the process but I usually authored them to a DVD. Hope this helps.

RE: I`m after Free Video editting software, and I`m not a spammer : )

I always use a free programme called Mpeg2Schnitt which is a very basic editor which will cut out sections such as averts etc. Because it only cuts and reassembles the content and does not re-encode the operation is very fast. Might be worth a try.

RE: Laptop help

You can still buy the EeePC with XP pre loaded but it will cost you about another £50 or a reduced size SSD to cover the cost of the Windows license. If you have a Windows XP disc and a valid license code you can load it yourself. The necessary drivers and instructions are provided with the laptop.

RE: Laptop help

Why don`t you look at the Asus EeePC range of notebooks. These run on Linux and are ideal for the tasks you want. The SSDs do not always have large capacity but you can store to USB sticks or drives or SD cards using the built in card reader. I have had one for nearly one year now and use it for just the tasks you describe and could not be more pleased with it. Prices start from about £200.

RE: Outlook 2003 not receiving ALL mails on Orange Broadband account

When you log on to Orange webmail it creates an account rebmem[at]xxx which is where Orange will then send all their communications to you. This account will also need to be specified in Outlook. All versions of the email addresses you use need to be covered by the accounts in Outlook. I had this confusion for a little while after using the Orange webmail service.

RE: Asus EEE PC

Bought one of these EeePCs last November for travel purposes. It has proved to be extremely good and the custom Linus OS is very easy to use. It also seems to do everything that we require of it. The wireless adapter is very sensitive and it connects without any problems to wireless hotspots. Most of the usage is web based and Firefox works flawlessly - I have even just been watching Wimbledon live coverage from the BBC web site so most multimedia embedding is obviously set up. Skype is pre-installed but we did upgrade it using the inbuilt functionality to the later version which supports video and now the in built web cam works with calls where appropriate. Also realised that using Skype is by far the most cost effective way of making calls to landlines from abroad (in our case the USA) and the in built mic and speakers are adequate for this purpose but external connections are provided if more privacy is required. Digital photos can be viewed, downloaded and backed up etc - the OS recognises the externally connected devices in much the same way as Windows and gives a pop up option selection. The built in SD card slot is a bonus for retrieving digital photos without having to connect the camera and the storage is easily expanded using a USB memory stick. Probably one of the best purchases we have made!

RE: 250Gb twin tuner DVR £58.71 in Costco

This is strange. I saw a report elsewhere that Costco were charging about £60 in early April but not in Milton Keynes where I got them to check the system. Now they have reduced the price to that level seen elsewhere. This seems to indicate that they are either running offers for limited times or that they do not operate central pricing policies.

250Gb twin tuner DVR £58.71 in Costco

Costco Milton Keynes are selling the Inverto IDL 7000m fitted with a 250Gb hard drive for £58.71. It is a twin tuner with simultaneous record DVBT box with 14 day EPG. According to reviews, one of the best DVRs on the market and at this price substantially cheaper than most 160Gb boxes. Not sure if all Costcos have the same deal but I think their prices are set centrally.

RE: Miles linux help needed **please**

I believe it is the Atheros wifi card that is fitted in the Asus eeepc so it is supported in their custom Linux OS which is a variant of Xandros. I am not sure if its drivers have been included in other Linux distributions.

RE: How do I find out what driver I need to download to get my wireless broadband working?

Go to the Dell web site and search for the drivers using the service tag on a label on the base of the laptop. This should identify exactly which driver is required.

RE: The Linux Thread

This is slightly off the general discussion, but if you are looking for a media centre set up try the Mythbuntu distribution. It installs a cut down version of Ubuntu with MythTV outright and works really well. My big surprise was the hardware support for DVB tuners in Linux which appears to leave windows standing. Even an older Twinhan USB device I had for which there were no windows BDA drivers was recognised and tuned in with no problems. The MythTV software is far superior to most of the software provided with DVB tuners.

RE: sky broadband

We recently switched to the Orange Home Max package. £24 per month includes line rental, free calls evenings and weekends to UK landline (01, 02) numbers and free calls anytime through the second line (a VOIP line provided through the Livebox included as part of the package) to landlines in the UK and 30 international destinations. The broadband connection is up to 8mb and unlimited subject to fair usage. You have to have a BT landline connection in the first place to make the switch. This has worked out well for us and is much cheaper than the previous arrangement of BT line rental and Orange broadband.

RE: The Linux Thread

I just love my eeepc. It simply works, connects to our wireless home router and connects via the RJ45 lan connection without any problems. I have used the in-built add/remove software to update Skype to version 2 which now supports the inbuilt webcam and this tests OK. My only frustration was adding the UK dictionary to Open Office. Unfortunately Open Office does not list the UK dictionary in its automatic install list so it has to be downloaded from their web site and installed off line. After some fiddling I discovered you have to download the complete English pack and then select UK English during the off line install - downloading the UK dictionary pack on its own will fail. This is not an eeepc problem but an Open Office one. I still use the default simple interface rather than switching to the desktop one as I find it does all I want at the moment - my needs are not complicated! The news of an Eeeubuntu sounds very interesting as this could be good for those looking for an easy introduction to computers.

RE: Orange HomeMax

I had been with Orange and its predecessors for broadband over many years and converted to HomeMax when it was first released. The transfer was was extremely smooth and fast. To my relief, BT did not attempt to charge a penalty for leaving them and the line rental with Orange took over within 2 weeks. Only problem was getting the second line through the Livebox working and it took 2 manual attempts on their part to acieve this. Also, if you want to connect to the Livebox wirelessly you must press button 1 on the box to enable pairing connection in order to achieve this. No instructions are supplied about this and it took many discussions with their their helpdesk to find it out - was not helped because the help and support section of the web site was down for a few days.

RE: The Linux Thread

I saw the Asus on Ebuyer at the time it was launched in mid November and, as they had some stock at the time, ordered it. I now see they have discontinued it - they must be mad! In fact, it seems this machine is the Wii of the pc world - Asus can`t make them fast enough. The cost was £220 and it is the 4GB model. There are 3 USB ports and an SD card reader built in for additional memory requirements. I understand the BIOS can be changed to give boot priority to the USB or SD slots if you wish to boot another OS from those. Also the pc is supplied with with instructions and drivers to load XP if you require.

RE: The Linux Thread

On the Asus eeepc I bought one of these recently and it is a cracking little machine. Boots up in about 15 seconds and is really easy to use. Asus have put a customised desktop on top of Xandros Linux which is a series of tabs organised by Internet, Work, Learn, Play, Settings and Favorites. Icons on each tab open the different applications which include Open Office suite, Firefox, Thunderbird nad Skype. Hardware even includes a built in web cam but the official Skype loaded currently does not support video although I understand the beta on Skype`s web site does. Not suitable for serious computing but for a really small portable device it is ideal.

RE: Which HD Camcorder??

The Panasonic also listed at this retailer is a 3 CCD chip full HD camcorder and, although more expensive, is probably more future proof. The way forward for recording seems to be the new generation of SD card which has the advantage of creating no mechanical noise to be picked up by on board microphones and probably lower power consumption. Editing might be interesting in the near future as the new recording codec is not well supported yet.

RE: Where`s the best place to buy high-quality cables these days?

There is a big difference between the signals transmitted through SCART leads which are analogue and HDMI leads which are digital. Analogue signals can be degraded in very gradual stages and the quality of signal received and the other end will therefore degrade in gradual stages. Digital signals are either there or not. Poor quality cables will either result in no signal or one that has so many errors that missing chunks of picture or digital artifacting will be apparent. It is possible that an HDMI cable that does not produce a satisfactory result, whether it is labelled 1.3 compliant or not, is not fit for purpose and therefore eligible for a full refund under trading standards regulations. It is a very long time since I studied transmission theory but I recall that the biggest problems usually occur with poor connectors which can cause the signals to bounce back along the cables, cables which are poorly shielded causing crosstalk between them and poor impedance matching of the cables causing signal loss.

This item was edited on Monday, 19th November 2007, 11:15

RE: HD DVD Player Toshiba HD-E1 £179.99 Delivered !!!

Sorry, just found the article again and it only seems to apply to the more expensive HD-XE1.
www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/shownews.php?id=9329
However all the new models support this feature.

RE: HD DVD Player Toshiba HD-E1 £179.99 Delivered !!!

I seem to remember reading on the HCC web site that Toshiba will be providing a software upgrade for the E1 to provide support for 1080 24fps output as in the more expensive model.

RE: Anyone know about speaker cabling?

There is no risk of damage by using a lower AWG cable but the sound purists will say you risk losing audio quality particularly if it is also not oxygen free. Frankly, I have never worried about using lower AWG speaker wire for surround loudspeaker extension purposes as the sound quality is less demanding than the front channels.

RE: Energy question: Does putting the LCD TV on stand-by use much power?

Most modern electronic devices use about 1W in standby mode. As you say, if switched off they should consume no power but some devices can loose customised settings when power is removed. Transformers etc often remain warm if the power switch is located after these power supply components and will consequently use a small amount of power. In use the power consumption of CRT, LCD and rear projection DLP televisions are all similar at about 200W. The power consumption of plasma screens is about 300-400W, substantially higher than other flat screen technologies which explains why the screens are actually quite hot to touch.

Digiboxes, especially PVR versions, can have quite high standby power consumption, often not much less than the operational power consumption and this is because they rarely shut down the hard drive within them. Also they have to keep the microprocessor controlling them in operation in order to monitor time, set record programmes, EPG updates etc. Turning off a digibox is not a good idea if you want it to maintain full functionality - especially the EPG.

This item was edited on Friday, 31st August 2007, 22:37

RE: DVD Playback Ratio Problem

Could be a software problem on the LG player. DVD playback aspect ratios are controlled from special files in the DVD structure but if you are playing files on a computer the aspect ratio is encoded in the file header. Recently came across this problem with the Arcam DVD player through the HDMI output. Arcam finally agreed that there is a software bug in their player so even a £1000 machine can have faults!

RE: Refurbished 40GB FreeView Set Top Box Digital Twin Tuner Video Recorder £38.76 + delivery

I thought MicroDirect were the supplier here.

RE: fan

Noise from the bearings of fans is not unusual after a while. It is very easy to replace case fans when one does go faulty.

RE: what is the law, regarding returning goods that don`t work?

As the goods are faulty, you are legally entitled to have the cost of return postage covered by MicoDirect. The failure of the Digifusion unit is unfortunate but it has much better features than the Digihome units from Argos. In particular it will record 2 channels simutaneously and even record 2 whilst you watch another already recorded. We have had a Digifusion FVRT100 for nearly 3 years now and, apart from the power supply problem, it has been superb.

RE: My laptop sucks...

Check the settings on the wireless router. Our one had a default setting of automatically disconnecting the internet connection after 30 mins of inactivity.

RE: Refurbished 40GB FreeView Set Top Box Digital Twin Tuner Video Recorder £38.76 + delivery

The hard drives are incredibly easy to replace or upgrade but remember 137Mb is the maximum capacity that the hardware supports. Also the case is very slim and the depth of the new drive should be less than 21mm for the top to fit back successfully. I replaced with a Maxtor (Seagate) DiamondMax 20 80GB drive successfully. In order to get the latest firmware you may have to copy across a file - both file and instructions are available online.

RE: Freespire( Linux or any other versions being used out there)

I had an Edimax wireless PCMCIA card for the old laptop which uses a Ralink chipset. It seems Ralink were one of the first vendors to work with the open source community and I was able to install drivers without major issues. A Google search found instructions on how to install the drivers.