Info and forum posts by 'DESTROY'

RE: New Oasis Album

I`ve narrowed Oasis-naysayers down to three camps:-

* Those who demand musical "progression", failing to understand that their distinct sound (solid, meaningful, driven, melodic) is what they are and what blows the roof off at gigs while the likes of Radiohead and those Blur pr!cks are busy "experimenting". Remember kids, amatures steal - pros borrow.

* Those fickle types who find it fashionable to revere the latest band, or sound (80`s revival tripe, anyone?) - it offends them that Oasis have lasted 12 years and are still as hair-raisingly rock & roll as ever

* Those jaded, non-event thirty-something men (heh heh! this is you, innit?) whose lives have been p***ed up the wall and are now settling down to a miserable life (what`s left of it, it`s all downhill from here) of factory work and @rse-faced wives - they are bitter and snidey about two men of around the same age who have not only made it to be as rich and famous as we would all secretly like to be, but also strut around playing the part (Liam) and make bold, public statements about anyone and anything (Noel). Oh my! They are rubbing your noses in it aren`t they? Gits.

Anyone with any musical sense whatsoever will give a respectful nod to this band, whether they consider themselves fans or not.

RE: Eddie Izzard - best dvds plz??

I like the one where he dresses up as a woman, and puts on makeup.

Go Eddie!

RE: Lord Of The Rings - Eastenders Cameo

More importantly, is Ian McKellen being gay really that much of a problem?

Why can`t we have wizards who use the other end of the wand, so to speak?

RE: The eye 2 & the eye 10!?

You obviously have yet to come across the other 7 sequels - though only one was directed by the Pang Brothers, number 4 toyed with the idea of being tongue-in-cheek, and 6 was a prequel (The Eye: The Opening).

RE: CLEANING DVDs and CDs

Where`s the double post?

Now that really WASN`T funny, but it WAS arsey.

:B

RE: DVD Rot has begun!

Take it easy, Floydyboy.

Have another joint.

8)

RE: DVD Rot has begun!

Quote:
Yeah... Hee hee. Good one. :/

No no, I`m bloody serious.

Compare this: when a videotape has a fault in it, we might experience a brief picture roll or flicker - but a DVD? Since when do movies suddenly freeze in perfect, unnerving static or explode into wacky coloured sqaures all over the place??

Granted, a professional DVD may look as crisp as a Monster Munch when they are going right, but the digitilisation of movies is all too apparent in watching many discs and something is being removed from the viewing experience.

We are basically watching computer programs on TV, instead of film - and the frenzy over the lasest "ultimate" boxsets with a bah-zillion pointless extras and commentary by the executive producer`s wife is creating a style-over-substance approach to buying movies to watch at home.

Who wants to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Dawn of the Dead (originals) in such bold colours and a sharp, in-yer-face picture with dolby 500-1 DTSDHSS megasurround ultrascope sonarplexus sonics? Part of the appeal of many cult movies is in their grimy, grindhouse presentation where the look is "old" and the murky picture can cover up shoddy special effects.

DVDs do make great coasters, though.

:$

RE: CLEANING DVDs and CDs

Mister Muscle Oven Cleaner - available from any supermarket.

Loves the jobs you hate.

RE: opinions please - best widescreen for around 200 notes?

While we`re on the subject, anyone have any opinions on the BUSH 28" Widescreen from Tesco?

I`ve noticed some odd horizontal patterns (faint, but noticeable now I know they are there) down either side of the picture in certain viewing modes - is this natural due to the manipulation of the picture by my telly??

RE: Eddie Murphy "Delirious" trivia question

Quote:
the whole thing about "half" gets a bit boring as its very long.

Arse!

Raw is comedy perfection, start to finish.

And no, you can`t go to Shirley`s to play Pokeno - F.UCK Pokeno.

RE: Underrated Films

Confessions of a Trickbaby (Freeway 2) by Matthew Bright.

This one gets right up liberal noses, particularly those who bemoan it doesn`t have the heart and soul of Freeway, Bright`s earlier twist on a fairytale.

Wild, aggressive, immoral, unrepentant and downright dirty.

Slobber!

RE: DVD Rot has begun!

Heh heh heh!

So much for indistructable, lifetime-lasting discs then eh guys?

Gimme VHS any day.

RE: Goodmans DVDR301R opinion?

Ah, but does it have the splendid macro-bypassing abilities of the 4kus?

:x

RE: Camcorder for new baby - any advice?

Hmmm...

Wanting to video a baby should automatically prohibit anyone from buying a camcorder.

Heh heh heh!

;)

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

Sittin` in the mornin` sun...

I`ll be sittin` `till the evenin` come....

8)

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

Having waded though the sea of internet jargon today on this subject, I am still non-the-wiser (such is the constant update of compatibility, new formats and techniques - making lots of the information obsolete).

According to some sites giving information on DVD copy-protection, it would seem very difficult to duplicate a professional, published DVD.

I appear to have found a way to do this with my 4kus recorder, but the resulting copy is not quite a duplicate - as mentioned above, certain areas of the screen are very dark compared to the original, but I don`t think this is any Macrovision-style symptoms kicking in since the brighter parts of the picture are spot on and there are no obvious distortions in the constant picture and sound.

Anyone know what might be going on, then? Is the "duplicate" removing some of the darker shades of grey and substituting for plain black because the recording is made at SP (2 hours) speed, and on a (presumably inferior to professional DVD) "DVD+R" disc?

Have I just tried to copy very dark films? (Must admit, a lot of the action is set at night come to think of it...).

Perhaps I shouldn`t moan, the films are quite watchable after all... and how come it is so easy to bypass this supposedly s***-hot new copy protection with my little £100 4kus? :D :D :D :D

:B !!!

This item was edited on Thursday, 12th May 2005, 15:50

RE: Budget DVD Recorder

And don`t forget:-

Drugs are, indeed, Super.

8) 8) 8)

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

Another query about this machine, if anyone can help:-

Having experimented with quality reproduction using the available recording speeds, I see the main diffference between High Quality (1 hour) and Super Long Play (6 hours) is the presence of jerky "blocking" in the picture towards the longer recording speeds.

Fair enough, but when copying a retail DVD in Standard Play (2 hours) the reproduction is not what I expected: the colours are deep and vibrant, but the picture is so DARK in places...!!??

I am transferring from pure DVD to DVD+R (Sony, TDK etc) - am I right in thinking that any duplicate made onto the DVD+R format will never be as good as the original, professionally produced source disc?

Slight picture jerks and blocks are understandable, but it seems the DVD+Rs are condensing the darker areas of the original picture into one big black glob - even though the bright bits remain very light and clear.

Recording on HQ it seems the difference between source and recording is negligable, but of course this 1 hour option is no good for copying films.

I was always under the impression a SP recording to a DVD+R would transfer the source material pixel-for-pixel (including the correct shading for the darker parts of the picture) - can anyone shed any light (ha!) on this ?

Cheers

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

Quote:
I also dont think that copy protection is kicking in - as the liteons only seem to check for copy protection at the start of recording unlike other makes that check at intervals throughout.

...but you`re right too, I noticed this to my delight when successfully copying a macrovision original last night - without any hacks!

If the 4kus isn`t stopping for reasons of copy-protection when detecting this signal wobble though, I reckon it`s something similar that`s giving the machine the hump.

I`m going to stick with it for now, as I imagine all 4kus machines will be the same and the limited checking for macrovision is an unexpected bonus!

:D :D :D

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

Quote:
It may be the damn thing`s misreading a wobble in the signal as copy protection and stopping. The problem is if you stand over it with a large spanner it`ll probably record everything you want it to.

That`s my conclusion now too, as everything else with a straightforward "smooth" signal records just fine.

And yes, it`s fine until the moment you leave the room....

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

Good idea, but I don`t think this is the problem -

The 4kus may stop itself recording after only 15 minutes in some cases, and there is no reason to think the machine may be overheating.

A typical scenario goes like this: I`ll press PLAY on the VCR and RECORD on the 4kus, and they`re both away OK. 10 minutes later, a quick check shows the recording ticking away nicely. Then I might return to the machine an hour later, and find the display showing "5-1" on the front of the recorder - not STOP, but of course the "5-1" is my standard display when the machine is sitting switched on but doing nothing. A quick check on the disc status shows me the DVD recording has stopped after, say, 15 minutes or an hour while the source tape is still playing.

So it`s as if the machine is somehow "resetting" during recording of certain source material - as mentioned above, this sudden refusal to record any more seems to triggered when the source material is made up of consecutive different recordings (such as the compilation tape, and the two films that run one-after-the-other).

I`m sure the 4kus must be sensing that the source material has "ended" once that particular signal changes, and taking it upon itself to stop!

Someone else try recording a similar tape made up of different recordings please, and let me know any similar results...!?

Thanks

RE: 4KUS PROBLEMS ???

And it happened again today, this time the DVD recorder stopped its EP recording in between two films I was transferring to tape.

Considering the 4kus has decided to stop in a gap between two different taped sources - like in the above compilation tape which contains clips from many different movies - could there be some kind of automatic shutoff at work here?

Something that makes the 4kus stop recording if it detects the end of a transmission, or break in the source material?

Appreciate any thoughts!!

This item was edited on Friday, 29th April 2005, 20:23

4KUS PROBLEMS ???

I have made mostly successful tape-to-disc recordings on my 4kus DVD recorder from ASDA, but recently some of my 4 hour EP recordings have ground to a halt when anything between 15minutes and 1hour into the job.

This means the recorder STOPS ITSELF for no apparent reason.

At first I thought it was the cheap TESCO discs I had taken a risk on (25 for a fiver!), but when reverting back to my normal branded discs I have found the same thing happening.

Interestingly, this refusal to continue recording seems to happen when I am attempting to transfer a compilation tape with the stereo sound turned off on the VCR (there is a music soundtrack dubbed over the top of the images) - coincidence?

Any ideas on what may be causing this problem?

RE: 4KUS DVD WRITER HELP NEEDED!

Thanks for these thoughts.

If the 4kus interpretation of DVD means not 100% compatibility with other machines (I understand no machines/formats are totally in tandem with each other), are there other budget machines that have a better percentage of inter-player DVD+R compatibility ?

My main concern is that my old Pioneer DV-515 will play DVD+Rs I have received from elsewhere, but not my own recordings made on my new 4kus...

I use decent Maxcell blank discs, by the way.

Appreciate any input on this !

RE: 4KUS DVD WRITER HELP NEEDED!

Any thoughts, you cats?

4KUS DVD WRITER HELP NEEDED!

I have just bought this machine on the recommendations from this site, but have come across some early teething troubles:-

[1] Connected to my (old) Sony TV with (old) scart leads, the picture when I`ve hooked up my source VCR (an aging but well maintained Sony) is plagued by interference in the form of faint wavy lines - is this likely down to using my old leads, or my television which is about 10 years old? Or possibly even a problem between the Sony VCR and the 4kus?

[2] The 4kus is primarily to make copies from my video tapes, but when hooking up the antenna for television at first glance this is very snowy - note I only have a mere analogue system with the five UK channels...

[3] I am concerned that my recordings to DVD+R disc do not play on my (again, old!) Pioneer DV-515 (creak!) - I would put this down to the age of this player, but I find other DVD+R discs recorded by others on different machines play fine on it! What`s the problem with these 4kus DVD+R recordings I am making then?? Does the Pioneer perhaps not like the 4kus recordings? Note, my DVD+Rs play fine on my Playstation 2...

I have finalised the discs as instructed for use on other machines, and am concerned my discs wont play on other DVD players as this is the main reason I bought it!

Any help much appreciated!!

Thanks

This item was edited on Saturday, 26th February 2005, 17:17