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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/01/2008 at 21:30
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Mazda's modular audio system allows the head unit to have an option tape or MD unit fitted... shame the gap could not take say an iPod somehow ;-)
I really came close to buying one in 1998/99 but held off and then I think writeable CD drives dropped in price or something.
Didn't hold off buying the iPod touch (excellent) and TomTom 720 though ;-) Should have so will be scrooge for a month or so now. Latter now fittable to the map pocket on the Mazda6 using Velcro(TM) so no tell tale signs and it's really secure.
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I have downloaded Silverlight and IE7 (See my question in CRQ - Volume 145)
Silverlight - I don't know what it is supposed to have done.
IE7 - has changed the appearance - not keen. One specific example, if I have Favourites down the left hand side of the screen, then it overlays the page underneath also the favourites panel is much wider than it used to be.
Can I amend these changes?
I think Smokie has got me summed up in Volume 145!!
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Silverlight is Microsoft's attempt to compete with Adobe Flash. Was covered in CRQ vol 145.
For those who do not know what Adobe Flash does... if you see video in a website or similar it probably uses flash. It's just that Flash has been around for so long it's on all/most PCs and so you just think it's just the web browser. The BBC iPlayer now also uses flash to play back TV shows - you can also use the P2P download client on Windows.
So... will it be any good. No doubt on paper as good if not better than Flash. Will it become popular .... not sure as it's Windows only and Flash isn't. For example you can get Flash for Linux and Apple MacOSx (Intel/PowerPC but not the ARM based iPhone/iPod Touch).
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Can I amend these changes?
The column width is usually the the widest name of the "favorite" in your viewed column.
So find it and shorten that name (right click on the favorite it question, and rename it in the general tab).
Overlays: Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced and then select (tick) the box for the 13th (at least it is on my PC) option to "Enable personalized favorites menu". The overlays will disappear because your less used URLs will not be shown unless you wait for a few seconds. This feature may take some days to become active as explained below.
support.microsoft.com/kb/257128
I have also installed Microsoft's recommended IE7Pro (which actually also works with IE6) and can endorse it from my own experience as a useful improvement to IE7 (has made my use of Firefox virtually redundant) www.ie7pro.com/
Finally, re "IE7 - has changed the appearance - not keen". if you are like me , you will probably grow to liking it. I understand that new downloads are supposed to activate the old style "menu bar" by default, but if it is not active on your IE7, you can show it by selecting Tools > and ticking Menu Bar.
I hope you will give some feedback in a couple of days on the above actions if you follow the advice.
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During the installation of the above, I get the following error message:-
internal error 2203. C:\windows\installer\6a11f.msi, -2147287035
On clicking OK in the error message panel, the computer crashes.
A Google search does not recognise the code.
Any ideas please.
Many thanks.
Peter
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Although this link doesn't actually relate to your "Adobe" application, it does offer advice and pointers to help correct the "internal 2203 error",
It may help resolve things for you,
hth
support.microsoft.com/kb/296056
Billy
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p.s
just found this aswell that mentions your 7035 error:
www.devinstall.com/content/view/133/276/
Billy
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billy25
Will do my best to pursue the matter
Many thanks.
Peter
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Hi knowledgeable Backroomers out there!
I am having some interference issues with my home adsl line that started suddenly just in the last month or so. When the phone rings or I make a call while online the adsl line cuts out (but resumes OK near instantly) but more annoying is I get constant interference on the voice line.
I have tried replacing the filter which has made no difference. If I have just the phone plugged directly in it fine (have tried several different phones) and if I have just the adsl plugged in this is fine too. I have complained to my ISP (F2S) but they say it is a BT issue. The problem I have with this response is surely that if there is a fault with the line, when the phone is plugged in directly I would still get the interference as the adsl must be still present? For background we are in a newish house (3 years old, ie no old cabling running all over the place!) and have only one master socket (no extensions or other sockets).
Does anyone have any ideas before I complain to BT? Is it an issue with my router?
Thanks in advance,
DB.
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DECT phones?
Could be a problem with the master socket. Could be phone.
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Thanks 'AC' for the quick response. I get worse interference when using my DECT phone, but still very noticeable when using a standard corded one. Therefore are you advising to complain to BT regarding the master socket?
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I assume you are using a proper ADSL data cable from the Master socket (via splitter/filter) to the router and not a telephone extension cable?
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I guess so Stuartli as it is the one that came with the router. I used the router for approx 8 months before this issue cropped up. Do you think it would be worth renewing this cable to be sure? I'm sure I have a spare somewhere. Thanks DB
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Last year, we had an annoying clicking that would start after a couple of minutes when on the phone. The frequency of the clicking speeded up as that call continued. When the telecoms/ ISP eventually showed up on site they replaced the router which fixed it.
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I go along with Pugugly's theroy that it may have been bad luck that you had two dufff filters. Or something on your system is causing them to fail. As I understand it, the filter only filters the signal to the telephones. The ADSL signal is fed to your router/modem unfiltered.
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If you have a BT line and your broadband is not supplied via an LLU service at the exchange, try dialling 17070 and opting for the second choice (Quiet Line).
This will indicate if you have a noisy phone line, which should be referred to BT unless you also use your ISP for the phone service as well; in that case inform your ISP.
I had this problem once and BT's engineers did a check on my equipment over the phone line; fortunately the earth fault causing the trouble was in the BT section of the line before the Master socket.
A BT engineer sorted it out the following day and also completely rewired the line from the House box to the Master socket; the work was done free of charge.
Also see the section on interference at:
tinyurl.com/2sex7g
Other ISP Help sections will also contain this type of information.
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Have you done an on-line test of your phone line ?
If its a network issue it will show up there.
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proper ADSL data cable from the Master socket (via splitter/filter) to the router and not a telephone extension cable?
I have the router on a 5m telephone extension cable which is itself plugged into a wall extension as opposed to the master socket, the connection is a constistent 6600 - 7000Kbps and I can download at over 4000Kbps actual.
I have two dect phones, one non dect wireless phone and a wall phone on other extentions, all filtered.
I would try unplugging all ADSL stuff inc filters and seeing if the voice line is clear, then try unplugging all phone stuff and seeing if the ADSL stays connected for a few hours without drop outs - you dont have to sit and watch it, your router should give stats.
If still problems under either circumstance then report back to your ISP.
If all OK try all new filters, the report to ISP if probs reoccur.
Edited by cheddar on 13/01/2008 at 08:51
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cheddar
You are probably using a high quality telephone extension cable rather than the cheapo types most people buy.
However, most ISPs do say that many connection problems can be/are traced to using phone extension cables.
Ironically one of my offspring, whose basic computer system is up in the roof area (he has a full wireless setup throughout the property) uses a quality 20m telephone extension cable from the Master socket...:-)
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The standard advice is to remove the front of your main socket and try the equipment in the test soclet that's left behind on the wall. Search Google images for 'NTE5' if you're unsure what I mean.
The reason for doing this is to disconnect any extension wiring that you might have. Even though you say you have none, it might be worth a try, just in case the removable front plate is faulty.
It's still worth trying a third filter, preferably one of a different brand. Some are better than others.
There's no harm in reporting a possible fault to BT (save yourself time by doing it at www.bt.com/faults ) but if the line test is OK and your phone works otherwise they'll rightly tell you to contact your ISP.
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Additionally if BT think the fault is on your side of the network, they'll charge quite a bit even to come there and test it.
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Thank you for all the replies - most helpful. I have taken the plunge and reported it to BT but will try the other suggestions in the mean while. DB
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Are there any recommended? I mean the type that does not depend on an external fax machine but works like email. I used to have eFax but it only has a 30-day free trial period now, after that £7.50 a month . Something called XIOP is allegedely free but i n practice unobtainable.
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There are a number of firms offering such a service free or otherwise (Tiscali used to do a free service at one time as well). See:
www.adcall.com/
www.uk2numbers.co.uk/services/fax-to-email.cfm
www.iccommunications.co.uk/0870_fax_2_email.htm
www.yac.com/yacHomePage.jsp
There are plenty more.
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I was prompted on-screen to compact my OE6 email messages to save space, which I did. Shortly afterwards I spotted that there were a number of .bak files related to OE6 in my Recycle Bin, and without thinking I deleted them using CCleaner. What are .bak files and was I wrong to delete them?
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PU
.bak files are back-up files,the ones in you recyle bin may be old ones discarded by your recent fresh compacting session.
I don't know how cccleaner works, but check that it hasn't got a "restore" feature, you may be able to recover them and put them in a spare folder for a while whilst you discover if you need them.
if it turns out you don't, you can then delete them safely.
Billy
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Yoicks!
Sorry got names mixed up! - not PU, should be Lescargot! (was looking at the "thread Author panel!) Mods, please alter!
Thanks
Billy
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How do you set up secure wireless connections in Hotels, I`m thinking of Campanile in France in particular.
Have recently set up a WPA-PSK network at home but have yet to travel with the laptop.
Thanks
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 13/01/2008 at 17:07
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You dont set up a secure network in hotels. They dont use encryption.
You just start your laptop, set the wireless to find the connection (it will be none encryption) you get a home page, instructions thereon on how to pay, or use your pre paid accoutn if you have one.
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Don't know if you have checked but it just says this on their website (for each hotel rather than Campanile home website) eg Calais
"Each room has a television with Canal+ and Canal Satellite, a desk and a modem line for your computer.
NEW: Free WIFI access in all rooms!"
See www.campanile.com/hotel/en/FRA21895.htm
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If you run Vista it will be practically seamless and child's play to log on.
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Thanks for the replies,
But if a secure wireless connection is not possible in Hotels, it seems unsafe to make an online credit card booking in another hotel further on?
That would have been the main reason to take the laptop with Campanile showing multiple location (vacancy) options on the web.
I notice they have modem connections, how do you use that? its years since we had dial up and i`m only really familiar with ethernet.
Is hotel internet access really only suitable for email (and a bit of Forum browsing;)
Regards
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The hotel wifi is not protected with encryption like you'd do at home (some don't even do that). But the Internet itself is not protected anyway. The only reason you protect your home wireless network is to secure your PCs. Once data leaves it you don't know who might be able to see it....
... and you can crack wifi passwords quite quickly. Very quickly for WEP.
Anyway you do not need to worry if the website itself uses encryption. I don't know if you've ever noticed the padlock icon in the bottom of the web window. This signifies that your browser and the web server have negotiated a private/secure encryption key for this session. All data sent by you to the server (and the response) will be encrypted using this private/public key combination.
If you use online banking it will be using this and all (well most) credit card payment parts of websites will be encrypted. Not all web pages are encrypted due to the additional load on the server of course.
So don't worry. I'm sure the payment pages on Campanile website are secure. Even if the hotels wifi network is not.
P.S. Make sure you have a firewall enabled on the laptop! But you should anyway. Anyone else at the hotel on wifi will be able to see the laptop across the network.
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With a spare 5 minutes checked the Campanile website. As soon as you go to the reserve a room bit the padlock icon appears to show the communication is encrypted.
I should have added earlier that the other give-away for the encrypted SSL link is the web-site changes from starting with 'http' to 'https' the extra 's' standing for secure.
Edited by rtj70 on 14/01/2008 at 12:15
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Thanks rtj70, I understand now ;)
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"to make an online credit card booking in another hotel further on?
That would have been the main reason to take the laptop with Campanile showing multiple location (vacancy) options on the web."
Oily,
If I understand you correctly, while staying in a Campanile Hotel you might wish to book another Campanile elsewhere?
Easiest way to do this would be to have a word with the receptionist at your current hotel and they will book it for you there and then by phone - have done it many times with tis and other groups - Ibis, Etap etc!
They will also do it for other members of that group of hotels -
www.kyriad.com/en/default.aspx
www.kyriadprestige.com/en/default.aspx
www.premiereclasse.com/en/hotels/index.aspx
While on the subject, can I recommend Logis de France
www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/index.htm
- usually small family run hotels, often at a very good price and usually with a very good restaurant.
Hope I am not "teaching my grandmother to suck eggs"!
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Thanks for the info Phil,
We camped in Europe for many years, but since my mid 50`s found it exhausting finding a site putting a tent up, cooking, then away the next morning. (tent often soaked from a nights rain:(
We don`t like booking a string of Hotels in advance though and feel `constricted` by that. Travelling into the unknown daily and stumbling across hotels with vacancies has also had its problems.
Now plan to take a laptop and do web searches for vacancies, on the move, which along with online booking would seem to offer the freedom from structure that we prefer when touring.
Regards
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Hi Folks: thought I'd stick a software firewall on a couple of the home PCs, I've used the freebie version of Zonelabs before no problems, but this time I'm having problems with shared folders on the PCs. They're running Win XP home SP2, connected via WiFi, and when I try to access a shared folder, the PC that the folder physically sits on pops up with a message that it has refused an access attempt from 192.168.0.x i.e. the other PC on the WLAN.
I was expecting a really obvious setting somewhere to automatically allow access from other PCs on the same WiFi network, but I can't see one. Any ideas anyone?
Router is a Netgear DG834G just in case it makes any difference.
Edited by SpamCan61 {P} on 14/01/2008 at 13:02
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Open Zonealarm (double-click on taskbar icon) go to program control. and open "help" in top right of window, open the "search" tab, and type in - "sharing" (minus quotes) then click "list topics" - in botom window highlite "adding to trusted zone" and click display, this will bring up instructions for what you need to do in the r/hand pane.
hth
Billy
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Thanks for that billy25, I thought it had to be fairly straightforward, couldn't see the wood for the trees yesterday.
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I have a Sony vaio laptop PCG-GRZ approx four years old, and had intended to use as our home computer to replace our old Dell Windows 98se.
It's just started to show message straight from switch-on-
SMART Failure predicted on hard disk 0 IC25N040ATCS04-0-(PM)
'Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive, a failure may be imminent' Press F1 to continue.
Pressing F1 allows normal functioning.
This laptop has had minimal use and nowhere near storage maximums etc.
Should I be obeying advice and get hard drive replaced? Is it viable to do this or just buy another laptop?
thanks
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Much easier to repalce a HDD and copy data across than have a failure of HDD then have to copy data from sundry backups, CDs DVDs or whatever that you may or may not have.
HDDs typically have a MTBF measured in the 30-50 years period - that said they can last 50 years or 5 minutes - 4 years - you have just been unlucky (or somebody dropped it and did not tell you!)
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Bit like a cambelt then !
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If you have a proper backup, for instance on an external hard drive, then the (comparatively rare) failure of an internal hard drive is much easier to overcome.
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Thanks Stuart,
Presume a 2Gb pen drive is adequate to get the data backed-up (only circa 1 Gb in My Documents)
Is it cost-effective to replace Hard Drive? PC World?
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If you've only got 1GB of data that you need to keep then you can pick up a small laptop hard drive for about £35 from dabs.com vs. a new laptop for about £400. If you're laptop performance is ok for your needs then I'd get a new hard drive from dabs.com or ebuyer.com both who give good service and a good price.
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Is it possible to make a bootable disk image of a Windows system? If so you could make the image on a new drive and then physically swap them. I'd be rushing to get my data off there sharpish though. A 2G pen drive will be fine, but don't forget about your email, browser bookmarks etc.
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I recently replaced a 60GB internal hard drive with a 320GB version - using Norton Ghost the 60GB drive's contents were cloned via IDE cable to the new, larger drive, including the operating system (XP Pro).
It booted up first time.
Seagate's Disk Wizard can/should perform the same task and can be downloaded from its website free at:
www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwi...d
It's based on Acronis software.
Some helpful advice:
www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1778
Edited by Stuartli on 14/01/2008 at 18:11
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When systems support SMART monitoring of disk drives and you get this message do what it says. Not all systems support SMART and SMART is not enabled on all drives.
For those that do not know, but SMART is continually monitoring the drive. When errors occur hard drives automatically use a spare bit to mask problems by moving data. You are not aware of this. But SMART counts how many times this is happening. Hit a certain number and due to the high number of errors it knows the drive is failing.
You could probably up the capacity a fair bit and spend very little.
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Thanks rtj70, AE and Stuart, you have confirmed my first concern in that I need to heed the warning and do something; also interesting to hear that each time I F1 through the warning it deteriorates, and I will soon have a catastrophic failure.
Will check out all your recommendations; thanks again. mark
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HDDs typically have a MTBF measured in the 30-50 years period
Trouble is they cant prove that, disk drives only being a 30 year old technology
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Exactly AE. MTBF for core memory not so good. And we're talking "polo mint" type elements on wires and their polarity here. And original RAM was the rear of a cathode ray tube..... principle of RAM the same though. You read memory and it needs rewriting.
The problem is partly spin-up/spin-down but we don't leave home PCs/desktops on 24x7. Servers do fare better.
But the OP has said it's a SMART error which is the laptop detecting errors which it has managed to correct so far.... but the hard disk is failing.
If he can backup to another drive and restore easily he's talking £40 expense for a 120Gb replacement drive. IF he lived near me (SK4) I would help him.
Edited by rtj70 on 14/01/2008 at 22:30
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If the disk slides out easily, easily replaced, then yes a ghost type clone of the drive to cd's, then a restore back to the new drive is the way to go.
It might not be loosing bits, smart also monitors start up currents, flight height above platter, number of times it has to calibrate, even vibrations from the spindle bearings
Trouble is Vio's are sometimes not standard, and frankly are appalingly constructed bits of kit. I doubt the lap top will last much longer.
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Before you take any drastic steps, download DriveSMART (freeware) from:
www.compuapps.com/products/drivesmart/drivesmart.h...m
and check the hard disk for any possible problems.
It's been on my system for a number of years; you do need to have SMART enabled from the Bios.
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I can place an excel spreadsheet into word and it becomes a table. Can this operation be reversed so a table in word becomes an excel spreadsheet?
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You can certainly copy the contents of the table, not sure about the formatting.
Do Table > select > table in Word
CTRL C
switch to Excel
edit > paste special > text
This pastes the contents of each cell of the Word table into a seperate cell in Excel.
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Thanks spamcan - it worked - once I'd got a non corrupt copy of the word document sent to me!
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I have not so far come across a computer on which pressing the Print Screen key results in a printed screen. I have tried various combinations of the key with Ctrl, Alt and Alt Gr
but the only result has been, today, to turn my screen disiplay through 180 degrees! (Very awkward to use till I got it corrected). I would be grateful if anyone could tell me the correct command for what would be a very useful facility.
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Print Screen in effect copies the screen so if you click Print Screen then open Paint and Click Edit Paste you will have captured a bitmap of the screen image.
You can the save this or print it or both.
You can also use Paint to select an area, copy it and then paste it into Word or similar.
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open Paint
Thanks, but where do I find Paint?
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start / programs / accessories, then scroll down the list - assuming XP.
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start / programs / accessories then scroll down the list - assuming XP.
Thanks. It is XP but still does not work. May be something wrong with the computer.
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Typing "mspaint" (without the ") in start > run window will also bring it up, unless its not actually installed.
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Press 'Start' then 'All Programmes' then 'Accessories' (usually right at the top) and you will see 'Paint' in the drop down box.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 16/01/2008 at 21:34
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Print Screen used to work in 'proper' DOS if you had a parallel printer attached (doesn't work on newer basic 'Windows only' inkjet printers).
Hold down ALT if you want just the window you're working in.
Edited by mfarrow on 16/01/2008 at 17:57
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Once you have grabbed the screen image, any Ctrl + V command should paste it into a viable application, such as Word. If you want a free image processor, download and install Irfanview - and use that to manipulate a Print Screen image.
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I use Printkey 2000 for screen Captue. One key stroke and then print... no messing,
It's free and no malware etc.
www.webtree.ca/newlife/printkey_info.htm
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"Zapgrab" Use a licensed version in work, there's a free downloadable version available on t'internet.
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just had my daughter on the phone - the PC at home won't boot up. Turn the power on and up comes the first normal screen - the one that shows the make of the mother board etc and things like press function buttons etc but goes no further and doesn't respond to any of the function keys. No 'beep' either - any ideas where to start looking? It's a fairly new Vista desktop machine.
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Unplug any USB devices attached to machine.
(this will probably include the keyboard and mouse)
If machine now goes through boot up then you have your cause (possible sticky key on k/b)
(sometimes a USB memory stick will prevent boot)
If not you have a hardware issue. If it were mine i would have it apart and reseat everything having cleaned the memory contacts, and checking the disk connections.
As its fairly new tho It will be to invoke what ever warranty you have the box (return to place of purchase?)
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Thanks AE - son's Creative MP3 was plugged in, apparently it doesn't have a charging socket but is recharged via the USB and he'd left it there last night.
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Does anyone know how I can print documents upside-down using Star Office?
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Does anyone know how I can print documents upside-down using Star Office?
Turn the paper through 180 degrees?
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Perhaps I should have explained it better.
I have to print information on forms which are torn from a pad and they have a tendancy to jam in the printer because of the rough edge where they have torn off. I need to have the document upside-down on the screen so that I can feed the paper in from the bottom, smooth edge first if you get me.
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Have a look in the printer settings - by the buttons for landscape/portrait, there is for some printers an extra button marked rotated or something along those lines.
Number_Cruncher
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Would it be easier to scan (or get scanned) your original "tear off" document and print out some copies then print your entries onto those? Or even do a template of your "tear off" sheet and put your entries on direct?
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Could you trim the rough edge using a steel rule and a scalpel?
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try a guillotine.. much easier and right angles.
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I would be very grateful for any advice/suggestions to help me choose a new pc for home use. I am not computer literate and have no idea what the difference is between, for example, dual core and normal processors, AMD and Intel products etc. I do know that the bigger the hard drive the more the storage capacity etc.
The pc will be used for home correspondence etc, Internet surfing, photograph and music storage and cd burning and some game playing.
I want a desktop not a laptop and have been looking at the Dell website at something like an Inspiron 531. I have insufficient knowledge to judge if this is over or under specified for my needs. Is Windows Vista ok or too new to tell?
I would prefer to stay with known brands but £450 is about all I would want to spend.
Some expert opinion would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
MJM
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How much gaming ? And what sort of games? That's the most demanding requirement.
Dual and quad are better than single. At the moment I would say intel rather than AMD (on a performance/£)
Im not a great fan of Dell, in the past they tended to be a pain to upgrade and were not good for games - I know my FiL bought one and then found it impossible to put a decent graphics card in.
I would probably build my own at that price.
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Last year I was in a similar position and ended up in Tesco and bought one of their dual core desktop/TFT/3in1printer packages as a hassle free option. If you go this route, the hardware and performance is fine but their security offering (Panda) is woeful, I've replaced it with AVG freeware. This one came with Vista which I currently hate with a passion - XP (never thought I'd say this) is just so easy to use by comparison.
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Dell are fine and probably the best value, you can upgrade the graphics card, look on dell.co.uk, the Small Business section is likely to give best value (you dont have to be a business to purchase) and the option of XP if you dont want Vista. However dont order online, order on the phone, you have more flexibility to mix an match spec on the phone and to negotiate.
Memory is more important than the processor HOWEVER these days it is so cheap to upgrade memory yourself dont worry about getting a machine with, say, 2GB memory, you can add extra later for very little, though get one with a reasonable processor because this is much harder to upgrade.
I agree Intel over AMD, even the new AMDs are disapointing, no match for a Core 2 Duo. Go for a Core 2 Duo (perhaps an E4400 or E4500) ideally though the Pentium Dual Core (E2160 etc) are fine.
Dell monitors are also invariably excellent.
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You want Intel (AMD Are smoking nowhere at the moment) duel core minimum, quad core if possible. Vista is now coming good once its updated itself off the net - go for one that has vista home premium as standard, then you know it has a half decent graphics chip, and you need 2gb memory minimum.
120 gb hard drive will do fine, if you want to store lots and lots of video or songs then 250 might be required.
I just built one for a friend where the CPU core alone cost more than your entire budget!
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I would prefer to stay with known brands but £450 is about all I would want to spend.
This is probably the hottest ever computer deal ever found by members of hotdealsuk:
tinyurl.com/269o37
The discussion about that brilliant deal there goes on for over 40 pages!
Although that link says "expired", that is an error and a thread has been started for the same deal here:
tinyurl.com/2728kc
After the £50 cashback from HP, the price comes to under £190!
If you follow the advice given and order through "quidco", you will get another 5% back.
You will have to add your own monitor but there are plenty of 22" LCDs to choose fro. If you choose to add one of the HP ones, there is further cashback available from HP.
It is simply an unbeatable deal and over 2000 units have sold in the last few weeks.
Note that even some enthusiast gamers on that website are saying that the PC is good enough for their games.
You have one week left to get the HP cashback deal, but the stock may have run out before then.
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Its got a pretty poor graphics subsystem, and its an athlon.
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Its got a pretty poor graphics subsystem, and its an athlon.
I have to take your word for that as I am not a geek on such matters. But it does remind me of the story of the man who asked for advice on buying a car on Seat Altea budget but was told that he should buy a Bugatti Veyron.
I suspect that for the OP, the PC I suggested will be far superior than he needs and will save him a bundle to spend later on enhancements if he wishes. The discussion forums at hotdealsuk have simply been unable to find anything that beats that deal. It is a stonking deal. Note, I have no connection with any PC maker or supplier or agent.
Anyhow, on the 1st link I posted above, post no. 370 says
"Vista reports the onboard video at 3.2 for Aero and 3.1 for gaming, the rest up in the high 5 points. If I could just swap the card, I would be extremely happy - something hitting the mid 4's would be nice ".
I have no idea whether vista rating of 3.2 for Aero is good enough or too bad?
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He wants to spend £450 and get a good gaming machine. He will get one for that price.
the 200 quid athlon with a poor graphincs card (3.1 on Aero for graphics is not good) is simply that - a 200 quid PC, not that good for games.
Yes I want an Veyron, I can only afford an Altea, but I didnt buy a chevrowoo matiz.
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He wants to spend £450 and get a good gaming machine. He will get one for that price.
The OP said: >> The pc will be used for " some game playing".
He did not say: " a good gaming machine".
the 200 quid athlon .. is simply that - a 200 quid PC, not that good for games.
No, you cannot get it anywhere else at that price as it is a £350 quid machine (without a monitor). The offer from PCWB and HP takes it below £200.
You can buy a good 20" or 22" monitor of your choice for around £100 to £150, and add a £50 graphics card if you are fussed about serious gaming. See my first link about the deal where serious gamers are recommending the cards that will play serious games.
Here is just one user's comment amongst many similar others : " I can confirm the on board graphics can handle Aero .. ... is quite sufficient for video rendering etc which I undertake on this PC and as was expected the rendering times are very fast and the playback of DVD material is very smooth. Very impressed I was going to build a high end Pentium Dual or Quad Core Machine but I could never justify the cost and for the spec of this PC for just over £180 I think anyone who gets hold of this machine has made the right decision"
In addition to those comments, other people who also have actually bought the PC and used it have posted reviews on the PCWC web site.
Real users, with real life experiences, and not based on "theory".
I repeat, it is an unbeatable deal.
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I repeat it is an unbeatable deal.
I agree with AE, it is good value though not good spec.
The following is available from Dell Small Business for about £365 inc, they charge about £55 for delivery though you can get that for free if you phone and negotiate.
Dell Vostro 200 tower
Intel® Core? 2 Duo E4500 Processor (2x2.20GHz)
Windows Vista Home Premium - English
1 Year Business Hardware Support
Dell 19" Wide Flat Panel
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel memory
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
128MB ATI® Radeon? HD 2400 Pro graphics card
16x DVD+/-RW
16x DVD Rom
Microsoft Works 8.5
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio
Dell A525 2.1 Speakers with Subwoofer
Reckon this works out better value than the similar Inspiron on the Home section of their website.
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I like the Mesh PC website because what you buy is so customisable if that's what you want. www.meshcomputers.com/
You can also see that the pre-built systems have decent components in them and like Dell, because you cut out the middleman you pay about 25% less than you would at Dixons / PC World etc spec for spec.
Mesh's current cheapest full system is £399 all-in & would do everything you want except the tricky question of games. If you mean the latest games then you are looking at £800 + for a system with a decent gaming graphics card. If you mean games from a couple of years back or minesweeper & solitaire then the £399 system is probably sufficient.
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Have you looked at europc.co.uk ?
They sell on refurbished new Dell (and others), many come with 3 yrs on site warranty and with XP pro. The stock varies and possibly is not as good as it used to be, but worth a look if you want a Dell branded PC.
I have bought about 5 machines (for other people) and their customer service has been good, next day delivery, and the once I had a minor specn problem they supplied a Dell upgrade FoC for me to fit after a simple phone call..
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BigPockets does a number of new or returned base units (some including monitors) at good prices, such as:
tinyurl.com/2lmrgr (£499 including 22in monitor).
Cheaper examples listed:
tinyurl.com/34cokk
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Thanks for all the contributions and advice so far. I now have more idea of what to go for. The decision still has to be made.
MJM
{moved to end of question, as per mjm's email request - DD}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/01/2008 at 12:38
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My computer is finding it increasingly difficult to connect to the internet. This is an old fashioned dial-up connection. The symptoms are that the modem will ring up several times and be unable to connect. The usual legend displayed is "attempt timed out".
Eventually,it will connect, but connections are often dropped after a few minutes.
My phone line is OK for calls,and the line provider have run a test on it and say it`s fine.
My ISP are less than useless, sending me a list of fault finding web sites.
I have connected an external modem,but with no improvement.
Can this be an internal computer fault?
Thanks for any advice.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/01/2008 at 18:47
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Piggy
this is almost certainly your ISP. The number of people who use dial up has dropped to levels where the ISP a: does not maintain the dial in hardware at their end, and b: dont care if they dont.
you are living on borrowed time Piggy, a lot of ISP's have withdrawn dial up totally.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/01/2008 at 18:47
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Anything stopping you getting broadband? Would be far simpler nevermind quicker.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/01/2008 at 18:47
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Is there anywhere that'll do an on line PC equivalent of an Italian Tune Up? I bought a core 2 duo PC last year but it's either simply Vista that's 'challenged' or the PC needs set up correctly. It may be running default settings that are 'slugging' it. Unless I've got step-by-step instructions I'm not too keen on fiddling about with software so I wondered if anyone could recomend a web-site that would sort it for me or at least report on its performance.
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Go to www.pcpitstop.com
You'll get a full run down of your system, be able to compare it to similar systems and retain the information for future reference whenever you retest.
Edited by Stuartli on 23/01/2008 at 15:42
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