Info and forum posts by 'John Savage'

Joined on: Friday, 23rd June 2000, 13:15, Last used: Friday, 6th September 2024, 13:36

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

About this user: This user has chosen not to submit a description :(

This user has posted a total of 199 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0.02 messages a day, or 0.16 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: HELP......cheap digital camera

Jessops have quite a few cameras at the 40 quid mark that make useful gifts. 0.3 MPixel I guess (640x480)

Not sure that at 125 you get *that* much more. PC World have a couple (HP and Fuji I think) at that price. Probably 1 or 1.3 MPixel. Beter resolution, yes but still not really printable and getting large enough that`d you`d need to shrink `ek to email `em.

John

RE: What are the film moments for surround sound ?

Other than those mentioned previously:

The pod launching sequence from Contact (also very good for testing the .1 bit)

Underworld live (how to use 5.1 with music properly)

Dark City (when the city gets rearranged around Rufus Sewell)

Various bits of Pitck Black

John

Lord of the Rings

Well, at 00:15 Dutch time (23:15 in the UK) I took my seat in the best cinema in Holland, popcorn and coke standing by, bladder nice and empty (3 hr film....) and girded my loins (ooer).

Then they showed a trailer for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and we all laughed.

As the screen widened for the main presentation, the cinema went very quiet as we all held our collective breath and then it began.

Three hours later I staggered out of the cinema, wiping tears from my eyes wishing I could watch it again. NOW.

I won`t give anything away - if you know the story there`s nothing to give away but why spoil it for those LoTR virgins. The acting is excellent (even Sean Bean manages some), New Zealand is the perfect location, the settings are exactly as I`ve always known them to be in my mind and the Hobbits have hairy feet ;) Gandalf is superbly well cast, indeed my only quibble is the typecast Dwarf (but then thinking about it, they were typecast from their descriptions in these books, so that`s actually correct....)

All the important bits from the book are present, and none of the elven poetry (most of which I`ve never read in over 20 readings of the series) which is nice.

The music is again excellent and fits the pace, the scenes and also the feel of the film perfectly.

No, it`s not perfect, nothing ever is, but it`s dammed close and is my film of the Century so far - this one will go down in the history books like the first Star Wars film, ET, Saving Private Ryan, Citizen Kane etc as a defining moment in cinematographic history.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Should probbaly have sent it to the IMDB ;)

John

PS The Balrog is not cute and fluffy

RE: can you send amazon vouchers `refer-a-friend` to yourself?

Nope each voucher has to be used individually - unlike gift tokens that can be stacked.

Most, if not all, Amazon vouchers of this type will not stack.

John

RE: Back by popular demand - what players have you all got then ?

Sony DVD-725

had a Sony DVD-F11 for a while but I wanted scart sockets

Plus access to most high-end players if I need `em to review something specific (like a DVD-Audio disc)

John (S)

RE: chaosmusic.com How long do they take to deliver???

I ordered a couple of discs from them months ago and they never turned up, last week they chucked some replacements in teh post and they arrived in three days!

Hats off to great customer service.

I reckon customs stole my order the first time ;(

John

RE: Update

But I thought you`d been reimbursed` by the manufacturers already....

John

RE: Drinks meet

Clicking?

I`ve been getting that too. Maybe I`ll buy a pay as you go mobile as they can`t be traced so easily.

Yeah, I did a quick format but I`ve been told I should have low-level formatted it.... whatever that means?

John

RE: Jim Cameron Interview

I`d like to know about The Abyss and when the anamoprphic version is being released........

Cheers

John

RE: Drinks meet

Well, having looked in my diary, I guess I can do sometime around the middle of April as I should be in town for my hearing. The pilice have managed to get it bumped up as they claim to have found the hard drive.

Peter - do you remember what we discussed you`d seen, I need to confirm with my lawyer what we are going to say, especially as regards the time I was in your garden shed and how long for.
Cheers

John

RE: Welcome to this new forum

Will the negotiations be on an individual basis or will you be negotiating for us on our behalf?

John

Drinks meet

Hi

I think this would be a good opportunity to try to organise that drink we keep chatting about on the list. I assume it`d be in London - I can get down there fairly easily as long as it`s a weekend.

Anyone free around the middle of March?

John

RE: Welcome to this new forum

Wow!

I`m not sure if that`s good news or not.. will the site continue in its present form or are they just after the name and the code. Will we still be asked to submit reviews - basically I would like to know what our future as contributors is, or will be and do we have to give the dvds back?

Just rather curious

John

PS When will all this go ahead anyway?

Free $10 amazon.com vouchers if you are quick....

http://hplj1.m0.net/m/p/hpn/amz/amazon.asp

sign up for a HP email thingy......

*shrug*

John.

RE: Cannibal god

Maybe it got eaten

RE: Sony DVP S735 Cabling???

Sony tend to include basic av cables with their dvd players. With my 725 I got a 3-way phono (gold plated mind you) and an s-video cable (ditto)

no scart - but I would assume this is mostly because they expect someone buying a decent player like this to buy an expensive scart cable, just like general hifi gear comes cable-free or with just enough cables to get you going.

John

RE: Surround Sound : How to?

Most people do, however separate their trousers and their rectums using something called pants :)

RE: Surround Sound : How to?

Surround Sound Processor:

Decodes the surround information into separate channels ready to be sent to separate amplifiers. Sometimes includes amplifiers for the surround channels but never for the main channels.

Surround Amp

Combines a processor with all the amplifiers needed for surround sound - jyst add speakers (and a subwoofer)

Surround reciever

As above but includes a radio tuner as well

HTH

John

Sony DVD players in general require a hardware mod

Hi

This is a public service message blah blah :)

All Sony dvd players require a hardware modification to play all regions.

Hopefully people will search through the archives and find this before they post on here :) heh

John

RE: SONY D-V7000 WON`T PLAY!!

Cribbed straight from the FAQ
(which I recommend you read)

Region 0: All areas of the world. (Dependent on video standard)

Examples include porn films, Criterion films and many documentary and special interest films - often in NTSC though.

Region 1: Canada and U.S. (NTSC)

Region 2: Japan (NTSC), Europe, South Africa, Middle East.

Region 3: Southeast Asia, East Asia, Hong Kong.

Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, Caribbean. (formats vary but Australia is Pal)

Region 5: Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, Mongolia.

Region 6: China.

Region 7: Unused (Reserved).

Region 8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.).

John

RE: Swapsies

Well not sure abotu sites but there`s a healthy swapping culture on uk.media.dvd (unless you are called Mohammed)

John

RE: Todays R1 News - TV Guardian

And my personal favourite from Beverly Hills Cop as shown on BBC1 many years ago when Eddie Murphy utters the immortal

`Bull dish`

in the strip club.

John

RE: Does anyone else have a problem with DVD boxes.

Playstation disc holders are the best I`ve found.

Little bit larger than cd holders in thickness, which means room for a decent booklet and they are engineered to be kiddie-proof, so no broken bits......

John

RE: Difference between NTSC and Pal ?

NTSC and Pal are purely two different methods of placing a picture on a tv screen. I doubt your player is multi region out of the box (or if it is that it would say it in the manual) The reason that all Region 2 players can handle NTSC and Pal standards is because Japan and Europe are the same region and Japan runs on NTSC.

A region 1 player tends to be NTSC only. This is why all it takes is a simple mod to allow most UK players to play Region one discs as all you have to do is defeat the region coding whereas a Yank who wants to play a UK/Euro (or Aussie) Pal disc would need to buy a player that could work with Pal (not to mention that most US tvs will only handle NTSC as well)

Sometimes not being in the States is actually an advantage - we can (with a little mod) access every dvd disc in the world, they are stuck with NTSC ones.

John

RE: Young Fronkonsteen

Ooh, that`s put ther pressure on :)

John

RE: DVDS DISCS FOR SALE

This is not a for sale forum, please don`t post ads like this in the wrong place, all you`ll do is annoy people!

I would also like to point out that at £30 for each DVD, you were totally shafted as one can get them much cheaper that that from numerous onlie retailers.

Cheers

John

RE: Welcome to the new Hardware forum

Odd, I have a sililar package,

DA-50ES Amp
725 DVD
Pascal 705s

and I get very good bass - I only have the sub turned up about 15 % or so in fact, any more and it dominates (unless I want volume and then I wind it up a tad)

I`ve found the `music` setting on the sub is best for my room which is about 4x5m I guess.

I should be trying an 930 Amp soon (the 50ES is one I`ve borrrowed, the 930 is actually mine but I`ve never used it.... it`s a looooooong story)

John

RE: Dolby Surround Systems ...

As has been said, it depends on your budget..... you could get a cheap av amp and speakers from somewhere like Richer Sounds, or an integrated system such as the Videologic one mentioned above.

One or two manufacturers also do systems (JVC, Sony etc) but these often include a dvd player as well.

A common and popular choice seems to be an amp around 400 pounds (typically a Sony 930 or similar) and then a set of speakers - either a combined set as a package (Sony again or others) or bought seperately. Cheap would be a Sherwood av amp from Richer Sounds and their cheap speaker selections.

Bought seperately, a good Subwoofer will set you back around 150 pounds (Richer Sounds is good for speakers) and you could user your current pair for the front (or rear set) You`d need another pair and a centre speaker (around 50 pounds say for the centre). Probably 500 pounds all told. Add some stands, decent cabling etc and you are looking at about a grand. I guess, if you shopped carefully and didn`t want a top notch system you could get something around 500 pounds but for that you are better off going with the Videologic system.

If you are infinitely wealthy, go to a home cinema place like Dawsons in Bournemouth and prepare to spend 20 Grand or so (or more, much, much more)

Make sure you test everything before commiting yourself - especially if you intend to use existing equipment as you will need to match speakers to avoid colouration etc.

I have a Sony 930 AV amp and a set of Pascal 705 av speakers (and a sony 725 dvd), costing around 800 pounds I guess online. Not the best for cd music but stoking on the movies front.

John

RE: Sony DVP 536

There are no hacks for the Sony DVD players

ALL Sony DVD players new and old require a chip. This is pretty unlikely to change either.

Try someone like tectronics or av-store for a sony mod

John

RE: MIB - R1 1.38 vs R2 1.34

R2 discs tend to be somewhat shorter than R1 discs because of the frames per second thing

R1 run at 24 fps (like the movies) and R2 at 25 (ok, I know that`s a gross generalization but it`ll do for this discussion :)

So therefore we get slightly sped up films - some people with perfect pitch can hear the difference for example.
The difference is 4%

Therefore if the R1 film is 1hr 38 (98 mins) then the R2 should be 94 minutes.

Which it is :)

so no cuts.

John