Info and forum posts by 'Funkymonkey'

RE: free Kenco coffee machine pods

I don`t think you need a special machine - it says on the pack any pump espresso/cappucino machine with over 10bar pressure is also suitable.

Tried my first pod in my Gaggia Cubika today - tasted (and looked) like p*ss!

It says only one pod is needed, but I`ll try it with two tomorrow - then it`s back to Lavazza I think!

RE: ARGOS Sony 17in TFT Monitor. was £349 now £99

This looks very similar to a 19" monitor that a local Staples had on offer a few months ago - when I checked the spec it had a cr*ppy 25ms response time, so not really suitable for dvd playback or games. :(

RE: Lidl Getting In ON `The Comuter Selling Thang`

Why exactly should these items appeal to comuters?

I`d have thought some of the satnav kit would have been a bigger draw.

RE: 16 Duracell AA batteries for £4.97 at ASDA

Maplin batteries look good value at the moment;

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37067&TabID=1&source=15&WorldID=&doy=17m12

This item was edited on Friday, 17th December 2004, 17:29

RE: Video Sender £24.99 Aldi

Yes, definitely.

I have a Powercolor 9200 Pro and the TV out on that works fine with my GigaAir transmitter, feeding the receiver on my Sony 32" widescreen downstairs. Make sure you use the little convertor cable that came with the card - it looks like a standard Svideo plug to RCA connector, but it has extra pins in the middle - you`ll just get a garbled, rolling black and white image with the normal 4 pin version.

It`s a good set up that allows us to watch .avi movies straight off the hard-disk using either DivX Player or WinDVD. Quality is good. Previously I was having to encode to VCD so they would work in the DVD player downstairs, which took ages (when it worked!).

I did consider buying one of the new crop of DVD players that play.avi files straight, but they all seem to have issues with codec support, so I figured if I use the PC I`ll always be able to update it.

Also I got sick and tired of trekking to the PC to control the playback, so ended up buying an RF remote (Marmitek MouseRemote). The AV sender will relay infrared remote signals, but I couldn`t find any software that would allow me to use one of my existing remotes, and I think they use a different protocol to IRDA anyway. You might have better luck, but the MouseRemote works brilliantly and was only £20 from LetsAutomate.

RE: 4mp Camera - £49.99

Determinants? That`s a made-up word, surely?

RE: Aldi Tevion 8 in 1 Remote is back £4.99!!

I now have one of these - it is good.

RE: £10 off at Pixmania

Says it only applies to orders over £150.

RE: Aldi.........Tevion wireless video/audio sender

Be careful when buying an S-Video to Composite adapter cable for your video card - I wasted an entire morning trying to get a picture with what turned out to be the wrong cable.

The S-Video end had the standard 4 pins, but all I could get was a badly distorted rolling black and white image. Finally after a couple of hours I had a brain wave and dug out the box for my video card (Radeon 9000 Pro) and there indeed was the proper article, with an extra THREE PINS in the middle between the standard 4. Plugged it in - got picture straight away. Didn`t know whether to laugh or cry!

So check the S-Video socket on the back of your card.

This item was edited on Thursday, 9th September 2004, 16:35

RE: 10 Pack Imation DVD+RW 4x for £15 at Dixons in store

Anyone got any MID codes for these?

RE: Fujifilm S3000 for £99 at PC World

Shame about the the £99 Fuji info being duff, but now I see that Boots have the Samsung Digimax V3 for sale online at £130, which seems to be a more modern and better specified camera, including a nice case and 32MB SD card in the box.

The V4 model gets a good review at Steve`s Digicams, and on the Samsung site they seem almost identical apart from the MP (3.2 instead of 4). It`s nice to see a camera for less than £150 that offers the ability to save images in TIFF format - coupled to a decent lens I would expect to get some great quality pics.

So that could finally be the wife`s birthday present sorted (along with a Kingston 256MB SD card from E-Buyer for £25). Boots offer only lasts until 17/08/04.

RE: Aldi.........Tevion wireless video/audio sender

I also really struggled getting the IR transmitter working with my Daewoo Freeview box - just wasn`t anywhere convenient to mount it.

I ended up routing it through the Daewoo and Gaffer taping the IR `bulb` to the inside of the black window on the front, right opposite the IR receiver - now it works a treat! The black plastic housing on the IR transmitter easily splits apart with a little pressure to the seam. Taking the housing off the transmitter means I can still get a response using the remote directly with the box - otherwise it would have blocked receiver completely.

Daewoo were even thoughtful enough to provide a small square hole at the back of their DS608P (next to the SCART socket), which saved me having to make a new one for the cable to exit through - these Korean chaps think of everything!

RE: Aldi.........Tevion wireless video/audio sender

I bought a GigaAir 2424 AV sender/receiver from Maplin a fortnight ago, also on offer at £29.99 (they had loads, so it`s probably still available at that price).

No complaints with it so far - telescopic aerial seems less prone to interferrence than the `disk` type fitted to the 2020 model I bought from them last year (which has now been relegated to the PC).

Drawback is that you only get 3.5mm jack to SCART cables in the box, so if you need anything other than SCART you`ll need to pay out for adaptors (the instructions mention an RCA connection option, but it`s not included).

Looks similar to the Medion, but not so similar they are the same (if you know what I mean). I know Aldi have a good returns policy, so I recommend you might consider the GigaAir type if you decide to take it back.

PC Remote Control Bargain?

Since I hooked up a GigaAir AV Transmitter/Receiver set from my PC in the study upstairs to the TV downstairs I`ve been looking for a decent remote control so I can control playback from the living room - now I think I`ve found one at;

www.letsautomate.com/10221.cfm?

This Marmitek MouseRemote seems to do everything I want (apart from being a learner - it`s preprogrammed - big shame), comes complete with RF receiver and works out at £22.30 delivered.

I`m not sure if that`s a bargain, but it`s easily the best price I can find for it (or anything like it) on the net. Should be able to collect it from the office on Monday - I`ll let you know how I get on.

RE: Aldi PC £750 from 1st April plus other PC-related stuffy-whatnot at bargainous prices

Platform ladder for £50 isn`t bad deal either - just the job for my hedges!

This item was edited on Friday, 26th March 2004, 12:43

RE: Canon digi cam

Big hello to Joe Pineapples!

Always a big fan of your `balls bazooka`.

How did that work exactly?

RE: Medion 8 in 1 remote £9.99

Hey Uncle Buck!

I`ve just put some new batteries in my MD4689 and it has gone all screwy on me aswell!

It seems to have stopped transmitting repeated codes, so like you say, holding the volume key down doesn`t work any more - it has to be pressed repeatedly. This causes a problem with my TV on/off button too.

I`ve also completely lost any control of my Denon receiver (was code 781), and the learning function seems to be kaput too, so I can`t load it all up manually.

Bloody thing has ruined my weekend! Back to Toys R Us with it tomorrow I think!

RE: Medion 8 in 1 remote £9.99

Thanks to Splintercell for original post - finally got a solution to my remote control woes!

Been looking for a decent 5+ way since before Christmas - almost bought a 10 way uni from TJ Hughes for a fiver, then saw an 8 way uni at Netto for £2.99 and took the plunge. Didn`t work out - not enough codes - fine with Panny TV and VCR, even worked the Philips DTR1500 Freeview box, but not my Compacks 5000 dvd or Denon receiver.

This Medion unit (MD4689) DOES have all the codes for the above, and will even learn extra functions to fill in any gaps. It hasn`t got an LCD, but the mode buttons light up to show what`s being controlled - it`s good looking and comfortable.

I thought I might have to take it back to Toys-R-Us because the keys looked a little cramped, but it`s actually not a problem. Best £9.99 I`ve spent in a while. Cheers.

RE: Aldi DVD burner £79.99 & other stuff

Just managed to install 160GB external drive on my Win98SE system - ROCK ON!

Almost took it back when I found no English in the manual that comes with it in the box (or on the CD) - didn`t think their Customer Helpline (aka answerphone) was much cop either - "If you need an English manual for the MD40657 drive please leave your name and address and we`ll post you one - may take 14 days"!

Thankfully the English manual is available as a download from their website - www.medion.co.uk - just go to the downloads page and type `40657` into the MD box and there it is (pdf).

This item was edited on Thursday, 8th January 2004, 18:50

RE: PC World DVD+RW`s at £15 for 25

I know this post is getting a bit long in the tooth, but the offer still seems to be on and there were plenty of spindles on the shelves when I went into my local store yesterday.

Just in case anyone is yet to take the plunge, even though it says 1x speed on the pack, I burnt a copy (backup!) of Matrix Reloaded @ 2.4x on my BTC1004M and it plays perfectly in my Compacks 5000 downstairs.

For anybody that`s interested, the discs themselves have nothing printed on them (just silver), the die is very slightly blue in colour and the MID is `OPTODISCOP1`.

Get them while you can!