Info and forum posts by 'rickc'

RE: Cheap friends box sets from play

Thanks for the advice on getting R1. Shame I already ordered series 1 and 2 of Friends just hours ago :(

Why do we usually have to pay more for R2 and usually get an inferior product? >:(

RE: Leather Recliner

Looks great. Where pray tell is "Focus"?

Leon/Subway 2-pack

There were a few posts recently about the full version of Leon with the extra 24 minutes. Well if you`re not in a hurry and you`d like to get Luc Besson`s Subway too this 2-pack from dvdpacific might be of interest.

Leon: The Professional/ Subway (2-Pack) Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic) £18.24 + delivery

The status says it`s on order and the cheapest international delivery takes nearly 3 weeks.

They also have the Big Lebowski and Blood Simple for around a fiver each. Looks like it`s a good time to buy from the US :)

RE: EBAY PC DEALERS - ANY RECOMMENDATIONS

An interesing alternative would be a Esys E-PC Full Computer System AMD XP 2.2GHz 256MB 40GB DVD FDD Keyboard/Mouse from ebuyer (quick find code 55401). It`s £286 inc delivery which is about £26 more than the nearest RealWorld equivalent but it comes with one year on site warrenty which is nice. It`s also got an OS installed - Linux so if you don`t have to have Windows you`ll save an extra £70 quid or so and be able to use all that free software.

RE: Anybody use CoffeCup HTML?

Afraid it`s not my cup of tea (ouch!) but I recommend you visit http://www.wdvl.com/ for all sorts of useful web developement advice. If you want hard copy I recommend Web Design in a Nutshell from O`Reilly.

Basically tables take this format (this is a 2 row by 2 column table)
<table border="1">
<tr><td>1st cell</td><td>2nd cell</td></tr>
<tr><td>3rd cell</td><td>4th cell</td></tr>
</table>

RE: Lightweight notebook - help wanted

You can try subscribing to PC Pro it`s a (IIRC) free subscription.

Their current `A list` value recommendation is:-
BenQ Joybook 5000U [PC Pro]
COMPANY: BenQ PRICE: £746 (£876 inc VAT; Delivery £5 £6 inc VAT)
Dimensions: 328 x 266 x 34mm (W x D x H). Weight: 2.4kg.

RE: Kodak CX6330 3.1 MP

6 months ago it would have been a bargin, now it`s not bad value. FWIW it sounds like you got the right camera for you. It got a good review from Imagining Resource which is a pretty good site. Here`s part of the conclusion.

`This is a true "point-and-shoot" digicam, requiring little or no intervention to take nice looking photos under a wide variety of conditions. It produces very good-looking photos at a bargain price, but do note that it has several limitations, including very limited night-shooting capability and a lens that gets soft in the corners when shooting nearby subjects. ` click here for the full review.

RE: PC Remote control

I`ve never done this myself but take a look at this for around £12. Note that there are some useful links in this sellers description.

Minolta Dimage X20 2mp 3x Optical Zoom Camera £104.32

Minolta Dimage X20 2mp 3x Optical Zoom Camera £104.32 + P&P (probably about £4.99) from ebuyer QuickFind code: 57136.

If your interested you can compare prices with pricerunner which also has links to some useful reviews.

e.g. Steve`s Digicams says "The DiMAGE X20 is a super-compact two-megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom lens that offers fully automatic "point-n-shoot" operation. It`s the perfect camera for the novice user that doesn`t want to have to learn more than just the basics and still be able to capture good images. The 2-megapixel resolution is good for 4x6" or 5x7" size photo quality prints. The X20 is a camera that can be easily placed in any pocket or purse, it is about the height and width of a deck of playing cards and only 0.9 inches thick and weighs a scant 6 ounces including batteries. This is truly a super-portable camera."

RE: Cheap DVD in Argos

It`s on the website as £29.99 - Alba DVD45 DVD Player. 533/4049
spec: DVD, CD, MP3 compatible. 2 channel stereo output. 16:9/4:3 selectable format. Rear AV sockets. SCART socket.

This product may be substituted with an Alba DVD55 which is of equal specification.

RE: Cyberhome ADL528 £ 29 .95 at Richersounds

I didn`t see the player in store; it`s on the mainpage of their website, I wouldn`t have thought Richersounds would do that to a very limited availability item unless they want a lot of disappointed customers.

Details of the Cyberhome are here.

Portable DVD Player 5" TFT £155

Umax Pvd-500 Portable Dvd Player

"Technical Specifications
Signal Format System: NTSC / PAL switchable, Off / On / Hold switchable, A/V output / input Playing Disc.: DVD/SVCD/CD/CD-R/MP3 Display: A Grade, 5.0" TFT Active Matrix LCD Wide Screen with Antireflection Video Terminal: Composite Output, S-Video Output , Composite Input ... "

ebuyer Quick Find Code 056090 (just type this code in the `search` box and click `Go`)

It`s £155.10 inc £4.99 P&P


More info here and larger pic here

N.B. I know nothing about this device, I`m not recommending it; it caught my eye and thought you might like to know.

Cyberhome ADL528 £ 29 .95 at Richersounds

please note this is `Graded` * Cyberhome ADL528 SILVER (Multi-region). It`s definately not a slimline player but pretty good all the same.



* GRADED/Factory Repack: Products refer to ex-display, mail order returns or ex-service products, thoroughly tested and re-sold with a full as new guarantee.

Archos Jukebox & digital camcorder at letsbuyit.com

Archos MP3 Jukebox 6000 £ 116.50 + £5.50 post
"The ARCHOS Jukebox Recorder 6000 is a MP3 recorder with a 6GB Hard Drive that is also compatible with USB 2.0. It provides the awesome capability of recording directly from any audio source - real-time, on-the-fly recording of up to 100 hours (130 audio CD`s) of top quality music in MP3 format." it`s also a USB2 device so file transfers should be quick.

I`ve seen the Archos go for more on ebay but then again some people pay crazy prices on ebay.


I`ve no idea about camcorders to be honest so I hope the next item is as good a deal as it sounds to me -

Samsung Camcorder VPD31 £ 229.99 + Delivery charge of £7.50
Superb digital camcorder at a market breaking price!
Mini - DV, 2.5" LCD Monitor, 800,000 pixels
68mm (W), 89mm (H), 111mm (D) 430g

RE: 64Mb Secure Digital memory £11.99 inc P&P

Sandisk are a top brand. I have heard of some compatibility problems with a PDA (Dell Axim IIRC). I`ve used a 256Mb Sandisk card with my MPMan70 mp3 player, Handgo PDA and Minolta Z1 without any problems.

BTW the best price in Pricerunner for a 64Mb SD card is £25 delivered and for the XD card over £30.

RE: olympus mju 300 3.2 Mpixels

It`s always worth checking http://uk.pricerunner.com/ for prices before you buy.

You can get the Olympus Camedia C-350 for £140 from Amazon or the Olympus Mju 400 for £230 (4Mpix) also from Amazon. Also 4 Mpix is the Olympus CAMEDIA C 450Zoom from Dixons for £204 (inc post) or for a few pounds less you could get it from http://www.itbutikken.dk/default.asp but this is the Danish version.

RE: splashdvd bargains

The catalog number of the BTTF trilology is the same as this one on Amazon. Release date 2nd December 2002

Also the Office Series 1 £9.99 here

64Mb Secure Digital memory £11.99 inc P&P

just ordered one piece of LX5010 Lexar Secure Digital SD 64MB Card (SD064-266) for £11.99 inc post and packing from Splash. It was £13.99 yesterday and I thought that was cheap, so I don`t know how long it will be at this price. The Splash address is in Jersey, is this subject to duty? BTW it`s not a stock item "Usually despatched in 5-7 days" - I hope Splash aren`t as bad as some people say.

They also have Lexar Secure Digital SD 128MB at £29.99 which would be better for those with 5Mpix cameras but obviously more £ per Mb.

RE: PC World Kodak cx4310

The user manual is on line here

The nearest Kodak model is probably the Kodak CX 6200 which cost about the same link

The 6200 is a 2Mp, with an all glass lens and max aperture of f4.5, it`s reasonably compact and light. The 4310 is a genuine 3.2Mpix camera with a glass (not plastic) lens. It`s a little heavier and a similar size, the max aperture of f/3.5 is faster (helps in low light).

All in all the 4310 looks like a superior 6200.

Steve`s digicams has a favourable review of the 6200 here

Hope this helps

Some photo stuff

1. you can get a voucher for £1.50 off Better Digital Photography (December issue). Go to http://www.photobox.co.uk/ and click `Christmas offers & news`. You need Adobe acrobat reader to print the voucher. I guess a new set of offers will appear from Jan 1st so move quick if you want the voucer.

2. In Better Digital Photography there is a £10 discount off pixmania.com products over £150 (see the ad on page 7). I haven`t ordered from pixmania but it looks like you just enter the offer code betterphotodec03. It`s a good jargon-free mag aimed mainly at beginners.

3. Some people were complimentary about pixmania, they appear to be quite often cheapest on digital cameras and printers. They now have a pick up store in Fulham `200m away from Putney Bridge Station`.

4. RE the Cassio QV-R40 discussed recently, this camera scores 81% in Better Digital Photography the best point being it`s speed of operation the worst being some concerns about image quality on close inspection. It scores 16/20 on value - this is when priced at £350 so the Dixons/Comment £170 offer looks pretty good.

RE: Casio QV-R40 Digital Camera £169-89 ..PC World

There are some more user reviews here - they are generally favourable. Also dcresources dcresource.com will have a review on the 31st; their reviews are usually pretty comprehensive.

As an alternative the Olympus Camedia C-350 £140 from Amazon here is highly rated by users and at 3.2 MP doesn`t lose too much in resolution to the Casio. Shame it uses xD cards (although it comes with 16Mb) and has a slower lens (F3.1 vs F2.8 )

This item was edited on Saturday, 27th December 2003, 02:45

RE: PC World Various Bits

The P7762 is only available from the Dixons group. It looks very much like the Hewlett Packard Photosmart 7760 (except the 7762 has a higher print speed) which according to pricerunner is available for £130. £30 less for a faster printer is still a good deal but perhaps not such a bargin as it first looks.

This item was edited on Friday, 26th December 2003, 21:04

RE: PC World Various Bits

The Belkin kit looks attractive. The router scores 8 out of 10 on zdnet here. The whole kit would cost over £110 on ebuyer although the router only scores 3 out of 5 with ebuyer users.

Richersound open box sale

Starts 12PM Boxingday.
Multi region DVDs from £30

Open box = ex-display; mail order returns; or ex-service products thoroughly tested and guaranteed

Philips DVDR75 WERE/OSP £599.95 Open Box. Large quantity of slight seconds to clear. £199.95 R2 £219.95 M/R. These are £307.99 on Amazon and rated 5star (from 3 opinions).

http://www.richersounds.co.uk

RE: MINOLTA DIMAGE Z1 - I`ve Been after one for ages - Its only £229! now from PC World

I got the same deal on Comet (inc free delivery) but by time I could post the price went back up. I guess someone made a mistake (perhaps it`s the Jan sale price) or they overstocked and needed to improve their cash flow.

Most reviews, as you say, are brilliant but a couple of reviews have made some serious criticisms (see http://dcresource.com/reviews/minolta/dimage_z1-review/index.shtml). The biggest worry being purple fringing. But http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/Z1/Z1A.HTM is much more complementary.

I haven`t had much chance to try out the camera but so far I`m very pleased. I took some night pictures up Oxford St. using auto everything and did get some strong purple fringing at full size but I don`t think it will be noticable at enprint (6"x4") size. Also I didn`t try the white balance solution suggested in the dcresource link.

RE: Mustek LCD III Digital Camera, Cheap !?

I`ve been thinking about a small, light 2nd camera I can always have ready to hand. I did consider the Premier DC2302 (see Edi`s post) which got a lot of good reviews on Amazon when it was nearly £100, however the deal breaker for me was the slow speed. The HP PhotoSmart 435 is a bit over your budget but for £83.34 from Bennetts Online you get a 3 Mp camera from a brand name. Reviews are mixed however. http://uk.pricerunner.com/photography/digital-cameras/167371/details

However, if you can wait, I recon there will be better quality/spec cameras under the £100 mark in the months to come. Now there are 3MP 4X zoom cameras for £160 (Kodak DX 6340), 3MP 6X zooma for £200 (Fujifilm FinePix S3000) and 5MP cameras for £200 (Kodak EasyShare DX4530) I`m sure it can only be a matter of time before this value ripples down to the lower end of the market.