Info and forum posts by 'Digiteer3'

RE: 20% off at Sainsburys

Many thanks - picked up the High School Musical 3 DVD set for £24 this evening, down from £30.

Dig

RE: Apple iPod nano 4GB Silver £69....

Nice Spot.
I think I prefer the old nanos to the new ones

Cheers
Dig

This item was edited on Tuesday, 11th September 2007, 21:07

RE: Refurbished 30GB iPod video £99.99 + delivery

Pooch - many thanks indeed - here`s a tinkling bell for you to enjoy - ding, ding :D

I`m not sure if you posted the earlier message about Dixons refurb nano Ipods and have re-edited it, but it was a toss up over a refurb 2G nano or this 30G Video for only £40 more.

I went for the Video, and although Dixons Refurbs don`t get the same respect as others on other bargain boards, the one that arrived is literally in as new condition. I suspect they replace the front and backs a spart of the refurb.

I checked the s/n and was really pleased to find that it is a (although early) latest-spec 5.5G version (post Sep 06 modification).

ALL - there are an awful lot of refurbs on the market and auction sites at the moment - the word on the street is that Apple will be introducing radical new Nano and Video Ipods at the same price points as current on 4th Sept 07.

I reckoned an £80 dscount was worth risking, but if you`re looking for an Ipod you might like to wait until after Wednesday to see what happens!

Cheers
D

RE: Free Nokia BL-5C Battery

Wow - nice spot!

Checked mine - was in the exploding batch - closest thing I`ve ever come to winning anything!

Much appreciated

RE: Free Quattro Titanium Razor

Sorry to seem dim, but to get the free sample don`t you have to have a code from the latest T3 magazine?

Cheers
Dig

RE: 720x480 Digital Photo Frame £49.99

I bought this item (same price) from Maplin - but returned it.
Plays .avi files (incl divx) well - and has speakers!!!
Problem was that it did not auto-start a picture slide show and I could find no way to slow the default (change every 3sec) speed of picture change.
It looks like only the original Phillips ones do this, plus have an on/off timer - unless anyone knows differently?
Also resolution was fine for video, but not great for digital pics.

Cheers
Dig

RE: And the `complete universe` won`t be so complete...

Lucky you - on Monday they went back up to 120 squid :(

Now gone up £50!

>:( :(
Less than 24 hours later - its back up to £120!
All those refunds from the previous threads must ahve had an effect...
Oh well!

RE: Creative Travelsound 250 Portable Speakers £13.97 at Tesco

Looks like its local only - went to the our big Extra storethis evening - they had never heard of the Creative :-(

They had over priced JBL speakers and underpowered teknika only.

Amazon Jersey - watch out!

You`re probably aware that Amazon UK are adding obtaining an item from their Jersey branch as an option to their buying pages.

This is often cheaper due to tax laws but make sure you really want the item

Unlike Amazon uk, you cannot cancel an order immediately up to its dispatch date as Amazon Jersey is considered like any other Marketplace seller.

I accidently ordered a DVD, couldn`t immediately cancel it and confirmed the above with Amazon UK`s Customer Service.

It get`s better - they go on to say:

"Please note that, where you are withdrawing from your purchase, and
there has been no error on our part, we will refund only the cost of
the item. We will not refund the cost of delivery or other services
provided to you in connection with your purchase!

and:

"Amazon Jersey will notify you via e-mail when your return is
processed. This may take up to three weeks."

So if you use these Guys as you want to save a few quid - make sure you really mean it when you press the little order button!!!

Regards
Dig

RE: Free CONDOMS

I knew a guy who was so selfish he used to wear the "ribbed for her pleasure" type inside out :)

RE: Acer Aspire 3003LC £364.99 inc vat

According to the ebuyer user threads, on euser is only getting 1hr 15mins from a full charge :(

Probably the AMD 3000 chip is doing this - very power hungry beast in its desktop variant!

This laptop is probably best seen as a small profile desktop alternative.

A friend has just bought a Dell Inspiron 530M with the extended life battery option - she`s got 8.5 hrs run time out of it in the real world.

RE: Acer Aspire 3003LC £364.99 inc vat

The specs say "Run time (Up to) 1.5 hrs"...
... seems awfully low - is that correct?

Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono - what`s this please?

I`ve just bought what I thought was the R3 release of Serenity from ebay, but it is probably a knock-off :(
It has all the features of the R3, but with extra French and Spanish Sound Tracks, a cover that is actually Joss Wheedon`s Book cover, typos on the back, and here`s the kicker - "recorded in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono".
Is this going to sound as bad as i think it will? :p

Kind Regards
Dig

This item was edited on Thursday, 2nd February 2006, 21:21

RE: Go get it! :x

Yeah, but you can`t stop the signal friends! :D

Go get it! :x

Just to back Apt up, I came across this Set after seeing Serenity at the Cinema.
A terrific series - even my non-Sci Fi interested Wife loved it!

This Box Set of all the TV episodes aired is really a bargain at this price - Go get it!

Regards and Happy Christmas
Dig. :x

RE: Refurbished Nokia 3230

Firstly, many thanks to the Original Poster for pointing us towards this deal.

Like a previous poster had found, the Samsung had gone but I found the 3230 offer instead.

To be fair 02 did provide a hyperlink on the advert stating their Refurb definition which I checked - basically stating that all you``re guaranteed to get was a phone and charger. As no refurb items are currently available, I can`t point you to this link at present I`m afraid.

Given the huge reduction of this Refiurb against a full price one, I judged the lack worth it however and bought the Phone.

To those who are dissapointed, the 3230 does not get very good reviews for its MP3 player and radio (mono o/p and dodgy headphones plus quite a drain on the battery) so why not get a cheap self-contained MP3 / Radio Player if that`s what you really need?

I was a bit dissapointed to hear about the lack of an RS MMC card, but 32 Mb is nothing these days. 256 or 512 mb cards are really cheap on ebay, and from what I read in the reviews, because Nokia haven`t (again) made the card slot externally reachable, you`re going to not want to keep swapping low memory cards anyway!

I just hope that when mine arrives, O2 have flashed to the latest firmware as part of the Refurb - early versions were quite flaky.

Finally, as to delivery, mine should have arrived by 5pm today - but didn`t - guess what O2 Customer Services said tonight as an explanation?

You`ll love this -

- "...as the "before 5pm" option you selected was a free option, we didn`t have to meet it..." !!!!

Again, as delivery was free anyway, I will be counting myself lucky if it does get here tomorrow!

I hope the `phone (when I get it) isn`t as flaky as DHL`s delivery!

Regards
Dig

Local Offers I`m afraid :-(

Yes, I got all excited too - but the offer seems geographically limited.
Not for the likes of us SEasteners, I`m afraid :-(

Regards
Dig

RE: Liteon VW5026 -

Thanks for the useful feedback.
Can you confirm if it is recording from its internal tuner in Nicam stereo please?
I rang a couple of vendors who read out Liteons spec that it had a stereo tuner, but one (SVP) said that it was stereo but not nicam (!) which obviously cannot be.

Kind Regards
Dig

PBS and HDD issues

Hi an earlier post stated that this would decode packed bitstreams with latest firmware - can anyone confirm that this true please?

I love my Yamada 6600, but PBS seems still out of reach in it firmware and its a real pain to use MPEGModifier more and more frequently!

Re the HDD on the Targa, I think the point of the mod is that the device provides power via the port to run a the 2 1/2 " drive - so you could put a lot of mp3 / jpg files from your PC onto the HDD and play the m quite cheaply without burning to CDR, I suppose.

Now Yamada do a divx machine with a usb port that will only let it read music / still pictures from usb memory sticks (interface speed too slow for video I guess). If this mod allows video to be streamed off the HDD as well, now you`re really talking!

Regards
Dig

RE: Liteon VW5026 - No Nicam Stereo Tuner?

Hi - I have heard that Liteons just have mono TV tuners inside (ie No Nicam Stereo), although will record in 2 channels from external input - is this true?

Regards
Malc

RE: Pentax optio s55 £150 @ Booots £50 cheaper than jessops

Here is a very good review site with the S55 review:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/optios55.html

The site is very trustworthy, although sometimes you have to transpose between UK and US model names.

The Pentax Compact Digitals have always had a major problem with speed between shots - this one seems to be no different. 3 seconds between daylight and 5 - 11 between flash shots! Close your eyes and count slowly to 5 - that`s how long you`re going to have to wait at least before you can take another shot when indoors- it seems a long time doesn`t it?

The `burst` feature (quite new on the Pentax - I`ve had it on my Kyocera SL300R for eighteen months) is good for rapid shots in a constant daylight (you have to lock in a single exposure at the start, but are in trouble if the light level changes) and doesn`t work with flash.

I recommend looking at Steve`s reviews and jumping straight to the conclusions to look at speed of the camera and go for the fastest (startup and between shots) of the group you are considering. Speed is still Compact Digital Cameras` achillies heel - fixed (at a cost) in Digital SLRs - my Canon EOS Digital is really quick, even with its built in flash

Also, budget for as big a memory card as you can afford (prices are quite low now - go for 256Mb +) and at least one spare battery / set of batteries. Not cheap - my Kyocera`s genuine Lithium batery is £50 for example - you can get comaparables on EBay or the WWW for cheaper, but my experience is tha tthey do not run as long as Original Equipt.

If anyone in the group would like further advice -just ask!

Regards
Dig.

RE: Decent camera

Looks good - I have had the 2Mp QV2000 and 3MP QV3000 previously.
Great cameras, notably that because Casio doesn`t make Lenses, Imagers and LCDs itself, it selects the best from elsewhere.
My QV`s both had F2.0 Canon Lenses and Sony CCDs!
The use of AA batteries is a huge plus, cheap, reliable and long-lived - I recommend buying a few sets and taking them with you.

I also recommend getting a good warantee - my QV3000`s Flash sensor failed (common fault) whilst it was still in extended warantee - other people had to pay £100-£150 to get their`s fixed!

Regards
Dig

HDD/DVD Recorder or seperate units?

May I ask the group`s advice?

I need a more modern unattended recording solution to my current Grundig Freeview Box + Thomson Nicam VCR + 100`s of VHS tapes.

It might be old-tech, bulky and slow to review recordings but it also is very reliable!

I am concerned about the reported occasional unreliabilty issues mentioned on other Forums with the Liteon 5045 timer recordings - to my mind, any `lost` recordings are too many!

Are the new 5026s (I only need 80GB BTW) now more reliable, doe sanyone know?

Would it be better to get a Humax Freeview PVR 80Gb box (very reliable according to the Humax forums plus has a digital Freeview Tuner, unlike the Liteons) and a simple Liteon DVD Recorder for archiving instead of the integrated solution.

Or,
Wait for the `next generation` Liteons 9due Q4 this year) and hope that they are more stable / suitible.

Or,
Pay more and get the Panasonic HDD/DVD Recorder which seems to be very reliable but has lousy UK Customer Service?

I`d be very grateful for your advice on the subject.

Kind Regards
Digiteer

RE: 8 2500 mAhr AA NiMHbatteries - less than £10 incl P&P (+ free tester and cases)

TalkShop - my - so cynical ;)

Seriously though, I have no connection with them. Please check my other posts on this board to confirm (actually, you might have done that first :) )

There are so many boxshifters out there who don`t know / care about the stuff that they sell - it was good to find someone who actually knows what he is talking about for a change.

Iain (the Engineer I mentioned) has put a lot of effort into providing tech advice + helping me set up my charger with these batteries - the `sales pitch` from me was to confirm the service given the bargain price - which is what I was sharing with the group.

Regards
Dig

RE: 8 2500 mAhr AA NiMH Batteries - less than £10 incl P&P (+ free tester and cases)

I forgot to mention that whatever you do, get an "Intelligent" NiMh Charger for these.
Basically, such a charger will put a full charge in until it monitors that the cells are full and stops (called delta V detection).

This way, no matter what capacity batteries you have now or buy in the future, the charger will handle them correctly (don`t mix capacities though!) . Consumer models are totally automatic and can be bought to charge at various speeds - faster = more expensive.

Do NOT use an older NiCd Charger (unless it specifically states that it can handle NiMH too) and avoid cheaper "timer" chargers as they will put a preset charge in for a preset time only, so if you every get higher capacity batteries, it can never give you a full charge! It took me a while to work out why my (then) new 2000 mAhr set of AA batteries were never any better than my old 1800mAhr set using the same charger!

My approval of the seller in my previois post was in his help and advice in correctly configuring my "all singing - all dancing" new radio Control charger that has loads of settings but is is totally manual!

Regards
Dig

8 2500 mAhr AA NiMHbatteries - less than £10 incl P&P (+ free tester and cases)

Hi, I have recently being looking for the best deal in rechargeable AA batteries.
By far the best I have found is from here:
Component Shop

The owner is an Electronics Engineer who has actually tested and approved these batteries and will answer any technical questions by return of email.

Rechargable Batteries are a little more complicated than I thought - ie different makes are definitely not the same quality, some manufactures over-egg capacities as who actually checks? etc. For Radio Control work, given the cost of the kit, skimping on battery quality is just not worth it.

I ordered 2 lots of these and they arrived next day, and can confirm that they are everything promised.

So although I`m sure you can find cheaper the combination of very reasonable price, quality product, free quality tech support plus a couple of free items like battery testers and cases, makes this a true bargain in my book - hence sharing in this forum. :)

Regards to all
Dig

RE: MEMORY DISCOUNT

These guys sell on EBay too.
You can buy as many as you want - but there is a relatively large P & P charged for evry other card you get.

When I queried this (an extra SD card should not increase postage by another 2/3), they replied very promptly that they are a Channel Island company.

Each card is just under the magic £18 so they are sent seperately. Don`t order one of these if you`re in a big hurry, I`d suggest.

I went for Amazon`s Bytestor Hi-speed card:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000ERWG2/ref=br_lf_ce_1/026-6680275-8171665?tag=myrev09-21 - cost a bit more but free delivery and 10Mb/s Read and Write.
I confirm that they are correct as my Kyocera RTune Digicam can shoot at 1.5 fps indefinitely until the card fills up. Only 66X cards and above can handle this write speed.

I hope this helps

Regards
Dig

RE: THE INDEX CLOSING DOWN SALES STARTS TODAY AT INDEX

Many thanks.
But 10% off - wow they`re really spoiling us :x

RE: Canon EOS 350D - on its way

Actually, I think you`ll find the Russian Firmware `unlocks` most of the Canon-crippled functions of the 300D to be like the 10D ;)

To quote from the pre-production sample review I posted earlier, the 350D will be a different beast - although this time it will not be a cut down version of the current 20D:

* Eight megapixel CMOS sensor (not same as EOS 20D) but bigger than 300D
* DIGIC II image processor (better image quality, faster processing, less power consumption)
* Instant power-on time, faster shutter release, shorter blackout time
* Continuous shooting speed increased (3.0 fps vs. 2.5 fps)
* Buffer increased (14 JPEG frames vs. 4 JPEG frames)
* Image processing time decreased (thanks to DIGIC II)
* Compact Flash write speed increased
* Smaller body (15 x 5 x 8 mm smaller) - I don`t think that equates to 25% :)
* Lighter weight (17% lighter including battery) - allright nearly 25% :¦

As this is the bargain forum, then the original poster was absolutely right, compared to its original price, the final price for the 300D will be a bargain.

Don`t forget though, its not the equipment you`ve got - it`s how you use it :x

Regards
Dig