Info and forum posts by 'Rumplestiltskin'

This user hasn't used our main site yet, so has no main account at present.

Joined on: Monday, 22nd January 2001, 11:53, Last used: Monday, 22nd January 2001, 11:53

Access Level: Harmless

About this user: Guru of the New Media Age

This user has posted a total of 7 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0 messages a day, or 0.01 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:

MiCo salute

Well I have to say that my MiCo has behaved itself perfectly over the past 8 months. It has never failed to play a DVD, and plays all the home-brew SVCDs (on CDRW) i`ve thrown at it.

However when the little chap first arrived it was as dead as a door mouse. The case is secured by a couple of PC-Case type screws so i decided to lift the lid and look for obvious problems. Straight away I noticed that one of the PCB connectors was hanging half off. If this sounds technical - it isn`t really. The DVD compromises of three off-the-shelf boards connected by ribbon cables, and linked to a PC DVD-ROM style `loader` (the coffee-mug holder / disk spinner). These ribbons simply push into sockets on each board. Whomsoever assemled my Mico didn`t push these connectors all the way in. After making sure all the connectors are pushed home securely the system worked fine. So quality control is clearly an issue with the MiCOs - but you do get a lot of player for your money so I`m not complaining.

I have noticed that the remote control can act very erratically when the batteries are running very low but this is an all too common complaint with IR remotes.

Who let this monster into my front room?

Once upon a time I had a record player. Most weeks I would skip gaily to my local vinyl emporium (that’s a music shop – not clothing) and purchase an LP or two. Never once did my trusted Mr Twirly fail to play my latest purchase. Some years later I bought a VCR. Again no matter how many chunky cassettes I wedged down its throat, the little chap always played ball. Similarly my TV has never failed to show a TV programme and my fridge has never refused to chill a new brand of food. And then one day I bought a PC…

Now we all know about PCs. They are Satan’s spawn. They crash, they constantly need updating, they usually refuse to run new software without some kind of software or hardware upgrade. Within 18 months of buying or upgrading the wretched thing it is once again at the bottom of the technology pecking order and unable to run the latest release. It is for these very reasons that we banished the benighted creature to our offices or spare bedrooms and never let the beige bastard anywhere near our front rooms. Who needs that much hassle to be entertained.

And then along came DVD… I think you know where I’m going with this.

Now as it happens I own a perfectly reliable DVD player that has played ever disc it has ever confronted. But I suspect that this is a transient state of affairs and that one day, sooner rather than later, my DVD will cast off its cuddly consumer electronic disguise and reveal itself as an upgrade-hungry, resource-wasting, blood-boiling hypochondriac PC.

Who let this monster into my front room?????

RE: BUSH WS7671 32

My folks bought the 28" Bush widescreen almost two years ago and it works fine. Picture is as good as any screen at twice the price. Excellent value for money for the non-brand snobs. I really wish I had auditoned the Bush before forking out over a grand for my Sharp 32".

Note: Most tubes are made by a handful of generic Taiwanese / Korean manufacturers.

RE: Mico A980 or Scan SC-2000?

The MiCO is a little hard to come by now -but does everything you require apart from DVD-Audio (which is very new and still very niche). The MiCO works and works well. I have no complaints about image or audio quality (no blue shadows).

It seems that the SCAN firmware updates seem to fix one problem and cause another. Ho hum. Maybe SCAN owners should request Beta-testing fees from the manufacturer. Last time I counted there were some 14 different Firmware updates for a player that has been on the market about 8 months. This hardly inspires confidence.

Maybe you should wait for Scan 2001 :)

Bagpuss

Some thoughts on MiCO A980

I have been using the MiCO A980 for about 6 months and i have to say I have no complaints at all

1. MP3 playback with VBR - supports every bitrate I`ve cared to try. Sound quality is excellent. To be honest the menu is adequate for my needs. I lived for a long time with no menu on my CD player :)

2. Audio CD playback is more than adequate - unlike many DVDs I auditioned.

3. I record my home movies (frecorded on a Sony DV camcorder) onto SVCD using TMPEGenc to ecode the AVIs to MPEG2. I use Video Vegas to edit the captured DV AVIs - and to add MP3 soundtracks to the films. Playback via the MiCO @ 720x576 (PAL) is faultless. AND a really impressive party trick. I demostrated the entire process to a few friends the other evening and managed to turn video footage to SVCD within 20 minutes. you can even record the SVCDs onto CDRW so you can always re-record your masterpiece! I also capture analogue footage via my ATI Radeon VIVO card - with acceptable image quality at 640x480 resolution. Remember that VHS is a low resolution format - so don`t expect miracles from VHS transfers.

4. VCDs and XVCDs also work well - but I prefer SVCD.

5. The MiCO plays EVERY DVD I`ve tried - even all the so-called problem discs (Gladiator, Toy Story 2, etc.). Even layer changes are handled extremely quickly.

6. The unit has a built-in Dolby 5.1 decoder so yo can hook the unit up to a £200 PC-style active 6 speaker system and have a very cheap and very portable home cinema experience.

I would recommend anyone to buy a MiCO. I have even bought one for my Father so he can play the home movies I have transfered onto SVCD. As for lack of firmware updates... if it ain`t broke...

Bagpuss

RE: mp3 burning

> Where can u get a full copy, not a demo, of Nero 5 from the net. I`d
> prefer just 1 complete download rather than a demo plus a crack if
> poss.

Now lazy can you get? not content with stealing software he wants it all in one download? As if a 5K crack from Astalavista is going to break his telephone bill? Hurrrrumph.

My vote for CD ripper / MP3 converter is CDEX. Its freeware and rather fine. Very fast and excellent quality MP3 (with wide choise of bit rates).

http://www.cdex.n3.net/

MiCo and WS

Fear not. the MiCO works fine in WS (well on my Sony 32" anyway). Excellent picture and sound.

As for multisession CDs - I have found that a wide number of CD players will not read multisession disks properly so its no surprise that the MiCO can`t. However it will read SVCDs and VCDs written by Nero without any problem - on CDR or CDRW. Now that is pretty smart.