bravo

Cheers. Pink - bought it for Keiti, not me. I'm a Nokia fanboy. Matches well with the pink digicam, and the hairdresser-mobile. (mr2)

Battery has had normal use. Was properly boost charged and a couple of full discharge cycles. Mostly charged only when flat, but as with all things, occasionally not - but that would be the exception, not the rule. I'm very comfortable with my position that it is a faulty product, not user error.

Thanks Simon(s). I guess that's the point Simon #2 - 6 month warranty on a battery?? You've got to be kidding. You can't contract out of CGA. That's why I was hoping for some case law - so I know if I have a leg to stand on.

Answers: Private purchase Phone is an LG GW300 From Noel Leeming Was at advertised discounted price. Why would a negotiated discount change anything, Cale? I always ask, and usually get, a discount on everything I buy. Currently dealing with the head office as the phone was sent away for confirmation of fault. Will go make a scene in the local store if I don't get any joy. Would probably go so far as disputes tribunal if I had to. I'm in a fighting mood.

9 month old phone. Battery won't hold charge for more than few hours. Retailer's phone technician's verdict? battery is stuffed (duh!). Retailer's "english is my second language" call centre worker claims warranty of batt is only for 6 months. Retailer's "english is my second language" team leader agrees and refuses to acknowledge that the CGA applies as the battery is a consumable and they cannot guarantee that I have not misused it. Feel like fighting them on principle. Anyone with experience in consumer law able to PM me some concrete facts so I can tell them to shove it and give me a new battery? A case law precedent would be nice.

Bad Ass

Lol. I had a workmate who had a Proton Saga once. He swears it was the best car he's ever owned. poor guy.

You were perfectly clear Nathan - that is what I meant. Last few times I've been in the paint shop they've been able to give me a jar of paint to touch up stone chips etc with a brush.

Most shops do this.

Too right. We were just talking about him when I was in Christchurch.

^^^ What I've been trying to convince my local "Team Izzy". Making good sense as always Grant.

Too big an modern for e34 was my first reaction, but I think with a slight lowering as planned I'm going to have to take that back. They're going to look awesome!

I'm going to disagree with you all. I've built my own PC's, and for me, it's definitely the best option. But for someone who has to ask what brand is good, dealing with the issues of hardware compatibility, etc that can come with a custom build, I'd stick with a known brand. You can't beat a mac for out of the box ease of use, but Windows 7 is amazingly good, and a well-built pc with Windows 7 makes it hard to justify the cost of a similarly performing mac. You pay a bit more for a brand name, but unless you are an advanced user, or own a business and employ a PC guru who can sort you out with a well-priced custom build with the support to go with it, then forget it. I'm typing this post on a Sony Vaio notebook - my first ever "brand name" pc straight out of the box, and it's an absolute gem. Compare it to cars - you don't tell someone who is looking for reliable daily to build a turbo-charged e30.

Don't let it bother you.

Lol I knew which one it would be before I clicked on the link. Awesome!

They look better than I imagined - has alot to do with the white border giving the impression that the logos are part of the plate. Good work Ollie. Still no word on that other idea we're working on, but then again I haven't exactly been hounding after it.

Says the BMW geek... But I can't argue with you, if you aren't encoding your own video, if it downloads and plays, the rest is moot.

mkv is just a container. the h264 codec is the important bit. if you use the wrong codec for your video shoving it into a mkv container won't help. Most players will also accept the mp4/m4v container aswell provided the codecs are supported. It's a silly situation really, having so many different available formats, but that's the way it is. I try to stick to a single format where possible which in my case is a m4v container (so it works on both my PS3 and apple products as apple need the m4v), and the h264 codec for video and AC3 Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. If you don't need apple or quicktime playback, you can use mkv which has most of the same features as m4v/mp4, but you have the option of either Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 audio when encoding. If a 5.1 source is not available I use AAC stereo. Those of you who use Handbrake to encode video will probably have already figured out from the above that it is what I use. Handbrake also has the option of placing both a AC3 or DTS 5.1 track, and a Dolby Prologic II AAC track in the same container. it means a slightly larger file, but means that you can play the file of a lot of different devices without worrying about how it will sound. Like I said - silly how many formats there are.

Do the same thing with the PS3. Only drawback of PS3 is the crap media library and drives need to be FAT32. Not a massive problem though. Have been meaning to hook it up to run as a media server from the laptop to solve the media library thing, but a better built-in one would be the go. Added bonus is that it plays DVD and blu-ray discs as well. Those WD tv things look fairly good - lots of formats supported.

I think it's very subjective. I have a friend with the exact same setup as me (speakers included) and he raves about how it cranks. Mines in a smaller house and occasionally I feel it could do with a wee bit more power. (I haven't had a chance to listen to his, but you have to assume it's the same). So jimbos comparison with his Yamaha is probably a fair one as it is the same guy listening to both.

If the only performance modification you are doing is the air filter, you won't "notice" any gains. With a properly shielded, well-known pod filter, you might get 3-5hp gain, max on your engine. You would get almost as much gain from a reputale branded panel filter in the stock location. The main thing you will notice is greater (better?) induction noise. I personally think the K&N panel filters are a great upgrade as over time (by cleaning them rather than replacing) they save you money. I have a near-new e30 k&n panel filter for sale if any one is interested. $50. A quality panel filter will set you back over $100. The k&n ones for e30 are about $130 from memory. Unless you can fabricate a decent Cold Air Intake, or buy one, don't bother with a pod filter, the extra heat will give you less performance. Basically I'm just repeating what has been said above.

Took a quick look at the online version of the manual. Turns out on the LX60 +12db is max setting and couldn't find anything about custom max setting.

^^^ I think that's why. People aren't that tolerant of spoilsports out simply to make a buck.

If it uses the same OS/GUI as my Pioneer VSX then hit the home button on the remote and it'll bring up an on-screen menu on the TV. Under settings there's a max volume limit. Good for if you have kids or mates who still haven't learnt not to touch the volume control. There's also a control there for start-up volume so you can turn it off at whatever listening volume you have it at without worrying about waking up the dead when you turn it on next. Not sure if yours has teh same remote as mine, but tricks for young players: Hit the receiver button near the bottom before you swear at the remote for not working (it is set up to control the source device after you change source). Check the zone control switch before (again) swearing at the remote. Took me ages to figure out why the volume wasn't changing - was trying to turn down the volume on zone 2 which in my current house does not exist.

The book will be an interesting read, but we all knew he had been the stig at least for awhile. HarperCollins are f**kwits.