Don't forget CRTs
I don’t normally write to magazines much, but my pent up frustration finally got the better of me. The very last few words of your May issue (Retro, p244) were "we wouldn't even consider testing a CRT today". I ask you to step back and consider if you are projecting the whole picture to those who you advise.
I have a Sony 19in. Trinitron Monitor which I bought second hand 3 years ago for £25. I work at a resolution of 1,600 x 1,200. I play my games (World of Warcraft and Doom 3) at 1,600 x 1,200. I eagerly scan the catalogue I get from Novatech each month for the latest TFTs and their specifications.
I have yet to find one that will deliver a resolution of 1,600 x 1,200 at a reasonable price! The latest advert for a Sony 19in. TFT states "Once you own a 19in. monitor or larger, you'll appreciate the extra work area and higher resolutions." Well sorry, but that is talking about 1,280 x 1,024, for the princely sum of £433.57 (inc Vat). Those of us with CRTs have been enjoying high resolutions and response times for years, at far better value.
I agree that things need to be weighed up, and if desk space and portability are issues for you then TFTs are the way to go, but to ignore the poor resolutions they offer, the costs and the response times of something you are buying to stare at for many hours is bordering on irresponsible.
You have a duty to your readership to present the whole picture and allow them to make informed decisions based upon ALL the facts.
Mark Moore
Macromedia macropricing
Macromedia has some great software tools such as Flash, Dreamweaver. They invest in development and deserve to have a good price. However the one thing that I cannot stomach is the price differential between the USA and the UK.
If you download Dreamweaver in the USA the sterling equivalent price is £213, but if you download the same product from Macromedia's UK site the same product price is £339 (excluding VAT). Even allowing for import duties, there is no justification for such a differential. Given the availability of realtime foreign exchange feeds there is no reason for why the price cannot more accurately track the vendor's home currency.
Their ecommerce system checks something to determine that you are in the UK, and defaults to the UK sales site even if you are logged on to their USA site. Whilst this convenient it does mask the price differential. You cannot buy from their US on-line store unless you have a US address.
The UK press including computing magazines could be doing a lot more for the UK public by highlighting this type of Internet exploitation by global companies that have UK offices.
Charles Smith
Penguinspeak
Having read the letter in last month's PCW (May 2005) which was an angry rant against Windows, I'd like to thank you for printing it, because it raises awareness of the kind of attitude which many Linux users have. It's an attitude I see a lot in my work as a Unix/Linux systems administrator. In my opinion, to simply put down and bad mouth the competition is not at all constructive.
If Linux is to become more popular, which I feel it deserves, then proponents such as the beligerant writer you published need to be more positive in their communications if they are to encourage its use. Hating Microsoft is not a good reason and will not increase the user base of Linux because people like to be encouraged rather than discouraged. It is not really fair to claim Linux is better without pointing out where it's better and why people might find it superior to Windows.
As I see it, Windows has much to recommend it, such as its mature user interface which, as a result of its ease of use and good, intuitive design, has allowed many millions of people to make use of computers where they would otherwise find them too daunting. Linux has come a long way in the past few years in terms of ease of use for less technical persons, and though it may not be as slick as the Windows interface, the underlying stability and security of the Unix-like operating system is a major point in its favour.
There is much more to recommend both Linux and Windows, plenty of material for healthy debate! I would recommend those Linux advocates who take an aggressive and resentful stance against Microsoft take a step back and look at how they can positively raise people's consciousness about alternative choices in computing.
Mark Ellerby
Tiny complaint causes service woes
I purchased a Tiny 5-3500 PCI Express computer, which was delivered just after Christmas. I didn't order the Reload backup disk as I have my own version of Windows XP Home Edition and because I didn’t like the way Tiny had set up Windows, I replaced their version of Windows with my own.
This caused a great deal of grief because the driver CD that came with the computer was the wrong version, leaving me with no drivers. After an expensive call to their help-desk, and a two-week wait, the correct driver CD was delivered. During the intervening time I realised the 6 in 1 card reader wasn't working and that the microphone-in socket on the front of the computer was blanked off.
I again rang their help-desk who asked me to open up the computer and see if there were any loose wires preventing the card reader from working, to no avail. When I advised that I had replaced their operating system with my own version of windows, there was a sucking in of breath and the comment that this was the reason the card reader wasn’t working.
I asked what was different in their version of XP to my own, to which they replied that theirs would have been set up with the relevant drivers. This didn’t make sense, but I purchased the recovery CD. When I then mentioned the Microphone socket, I was told that a socket is not provided as it conflicts with the rear microphone socket. If you go into any ‘My Computer Shop’ you will see Tiny computers resplendent with front microphone sockets.
This exercise cost me £22 for the telephone call and £30 for the recovery disk.
Two weeks later, the recovery disk was delivered and the card reader still did not work. In disgust, I wrote to Tiny on 30th January to ask them what they were going to do about the recalcitrant card reader and why I had been lied to regarding the front microphone socket. To date, despite sending 5 repeats I have not received one acknowledgement to my letters.
I cannot understand why any business would treat a customer in such a cavalier fashion. I am but one small fish, but my sphere of influence is quite large when you take into account friends and family who will know of my treatment.
John Morgan
Dead pixel policy
Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. All the makers seem to have one, but they don't exactly go out of their way to tell you. The exception being Acer, who do mention it prominently on their website, so hats off to them. At the other end of the scale, shame on Sony, who are still giving me the run-around. Presumably their policy is pretty poor.
Whilst TFT panels may develop faults over time, I don't think I'm being unreasonable to expect that a brand new display would be fault-free when purchased from new. Not so, apparently. Laptop vendors consider that brand new laptops with 4 dead pixels per magapixel of display are within spec. Each vendor has slight variations on the theme but that is a ballpark figure.
Putting this into perspective, a 1024 x 768 display could have 10 dead pixels from day 1.
Specifying the limit as a percentage of the display pixels means that a £1700 desktop replacement laptop could actually have far more dead pixels than an entry level one. If I'd bought a cheap laptop which had few dead pixels then I'd be disappointed, but if I'd bought a top of the range one and found even one dead pixel I'd be spitting blood and feathers.
I do appreciate the technical difficulty of making a flawless panel, but that doesn't excuse the vendors from hiding behind the small print until after they've had your money.
A salesman in the local branch of a PC superstore admitted that dead pixels were the biggest cause of post-sale disputes with laptops and LCD TVs. When I suggested that wouldn't happen if prominent statements of the policy were on the shelves he said "But that would put people off buying them."
Am I the only person that feels this vendors should be completely up-front about dead pixels, and who would be prepared to pay a reasonable premium for a "PixelPerfect" display during warranty?
Because TFT panels are all tested, the stock control systems could already indicate perfect panels and also the serial number of the laptop they were installed in. From there its just a small step to add a sticker to the packaging
"PixelPerfect" machines could be identified.
Acer said they think the idea is worth considering. Are you aware of any makers that already do it? I'm told that Samsung intend to guarrantee every pixel for the first 6 months on their TFT TVs, which is a step in the right direction.
David Reynolds
Windoze sux
What a load of crap! Have you gone totally mad? There is no point testing and comparing those PC notebooks!
They all suck dodo! They have no OS
What part of Windows sucks and cannot be fixed are you missing? The registry is the core of the system and is absolutely indefensible! Service Pack 2 has proved that beyond a doubt! Oh, and by the way it is FAILING! Why have nearly all European Governments turned to Linux? HELLO!?
Not only does the Windows OS render these notebooks useless garbage, but unlike desktop PCs, they most likely cannot be saved with a Linux or BSD conversion. Please end your ignorance and catch up!
Tommy Hoyer
Filth ridden PCW is the breast!!
I write to you with utter shock, dismay and contempt for your publication!!!
On page 35 of Personal Computer World May 2005, you had an article which included, amongst other things, breast enlargement (Clone yourself for PC gaming).
You did not, in any way, warn the readers that the article contained references which some readers may find offensive, disturbing or downright depraved.
Not only was this article published, but on page 17 in the very same publication, you printed an article detailing the fall in pornographic spam.
I am not surprised! Your filth ridden publication has amply made up for the shortfall.
Keep up the good work.
Richard Quadling
Where are my missing 32 bits?
The computing industry is renowned for its rapid pace of change. So why, 13 months after unwrapping my shiny new 64bit PC, am I still confined to working at 32 bits? The AMD website still refers to 64bit Windows XP being available later in 2004! What is more perplexing is the apparent lack of concern or interest over this continued delay by the industry and media.
Can you throw any light on the situation? It would be nice to think I could use my Athlon to its full potential before it is totally obsolescent.
100 Freeware programs
In your April 2005 issue you had a selection of 100 Freeware programs.
This selection, although useful, seemed to miss out such classics as: Winamp, Winzip and DeKnop.
Might I suggest that you open this up to your readers and ask them for their favourite freeware programs, and you then use the results as the basis for a further article.
Bob Beard
Digital music licence rip offs
It's good to see articles on digital music as it is clear this is of huge interest to us all. I am worried though about the Digital Rights Management used by music download services - or more particularly the way it is used.
I've spent a lot of money on downloaded music from MSN Music, which was great until I looked a bit more carefully at the licence details. The cost and usage of the product is severly restrictive compared to owning a CD. I am being ripped off here and so I will be using up any remaining credit and not returning.
For a start there are the unfair licence conditions, such as backup licences (I can copy the music, it's just worthless without the licence), and the fact that music can only be be played until 2099 - fine for me but what about my children inheriting a music collection.
It is unclear when you buy music what the conditions are - you have to do a bit of digging.
Worst of all, if you upgrade your computer you have to re-issue the licence - for most of my music this is around 3 times and the initial purchase counts as one. Suppose I want to keep my music for another 60 years - I have many tracks I bought 10 years ago that I still listen to today. What they are saying is I can't upgrade my computer more than once again in my lifetime (as I have recently already upgraded once). The thought that I might be using the same computer in even 3-4 years let
alone 60 is quite perverse!
All I want is a way to legitimately tranfer my music collection to a new device, and remove it from the old one. There doesn't appear to be a way to do this yet.
Or how about if my computer is stolen, destroyed in a fire or just plain broken - suddenly I have lost my entire music collection. I wonder what the insurance company will make of a claim for hundreds of pounds of digital music?
This is copyright gone mad fueled by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (and we don't even live in the US). The rights of the big companies have become too great and the rights of the individual have been completly eroded. Not in the spirit of copyright law at all. The big music companies talk about theft of music though copying. This is rubbish, it is copyright infringement and should
be treated as such. Just because someone takes a copy of a music track does not mean the original has been taken or lost - it is not theft and should not be treated as such.
I have no interest in duplicating/distributing copyright material or breaking the law but I do want to be able to enjoy freely what I have paid a fair price for.
Graham Parkins
Dell's customer service did good
I
read your column on budget PC's (May 2005) and saw you mention customer after
sales.
I
bought a slightly customised Dell Insprion 5150 notebook and it has been a
good, reliable computer.
My usage
is demanding and I reinstall Windows every other month as my computers just
can't cope with everything they have done. Well this computer has lasted me a
year.
The
only bad thing was I got a battery and a power pack which had already been
used. About four months after buying my laptop, while using it I got a candy
smell. I couldn't work out where it was coming from. Later, I plugged it in
again and found there was no power from the power pack – it only ran on
batteries.
The
power pack had exploded. I phoned Dell’s support and they sent out a
replacement lead. It was with me in two days, which I though was excellent
service.
Also
Packard Bell support is pretty good. I had a desktop from them, and they were
out within the week to replace a faulty drive.
And
a note on Time; you say they perform quite well, but to be honest I think they
are pretty bad systems. I have been out to repair 3 and in the end people have
decided to buy a new one.
M.Carpenter
Government to suspend 14% tax on PC monitors?
Last year you had a news article about the increase in duty that monitors with DVI interfaces would be subject to.
From 1st october it would appear they have been attracting an extra 14% duty because they are being classed as video monitors. I'm sure there were plenty of readers who felt this was simply another stealth tax on new technology and I took up the issue with my local MP, Norman Baker, who has written to the Treasury about it.
You will not be surprised that the Treasury's response wasn't exactly helpful. However, another letter and another response and they have added a comment that " ...a proposal is to be submitted to the European Council to suspend duties on certain types of monitor, classified in the 14% duty heading, that are most likely to be used with personal computers."
The comment goes on to say if this goes through it is intended to make this retrospective from January 1st. So how is that going to work? If you bought a monitor recently how will you claim the duty back? Will the government tell us? I'm waiting to see what develops.
Rod Main
Faulty printer offers Catch 22 nightmare
I purchased two 'all in one' HP printers online from Micro Direct. One was faulty and I rang HP in case there was a cure I could effect at home. Under their guidance I tested the machine and they agreed it was outside spec and would be replaced. They gave me a case number to pass on to Micro Direct.
Now for the rub.
HP said that either they would send a "re-manufactured" (not new) replacement immediately and collect the faulty one, or I could return it to Micro-Direct and get a new one.
Micro Direct said I would have to send it back with a description of the problem. If it was found to be faulty, only then would they send me a replacement.
Catch 22: If I go the Micro Direct route I am stuck without a printer. If I go via HP, even though I had the product but 4 days, I can only get a second-hand repaired machine to replace a new one. It may last the guaranteed year but not as long as a new one should - so I am being given an inferior replacement.
Trading Standards said I could claim out-of-pocket costs from Micro Direct - eg, to use a printing service. They also said business purchasers have fewer rights in this respect than consumers.
I am appalled that Hewlett Packard is unwilling to replace a 'dead on arrival' product with a new one - probably a violation of consumer rights. I am also disgusted with the Micro Direct policy that leaves a customer high and dry for so long.
David Boswell
Fooling the ad-man's spyware
Guy Kewney’s attack on spyware (Can Spyware come in from the cold? April 2005’s issue) sends shivers down the spine.
It is unclear from his article how far spyware goes: whether our emails are read by big business, or read in order to build a profile of us, or whether they are being read and our browser behaviour analysed so that profiles can be used to aim advertising at our soft targets.
What is clear is that it is possible. And that which is possible, is probably being done. I find this depressing. It is also depressing that most of the people Guy asks don’t seem to be bothered.
But most depressing of all is Guy’s assertion that we are all so predictable that the ad army can gun us down with ease.
The straight and level flight of my life is read from these very keystrokes, and puts me on the adman’s radar. Now let’s move this around a bit: this glimpse into the abyss of predictability could be - should be - more character-building than Groundhog Day. Do we want to be sitting ducks for the sporting pleasure of material-mongers?
So this week I’m mostly surfing for holidays in Marbella on behalf of my orchid growing chums. Next week I shall be a vegan motorbike rider seeking silent films that feature sitars. If I shop on the internet it will be for stuffed kites and feather boa constrictors one day and volt-free relays the next.
I will be devious and my profile will make less sense than one painted by Picasso. From now on I am dedicating my life to glorious unpredictability.
Tim Rigley
XP Services and security
I was very interested to read the article in the Hands On section about XP Services (in the April 2005 issue).
The security aspects of keeping certain services running cannot be overstressed. Few people realise that even with a firewall, Netbios and the SMB are an open path into their computer.
I have found the web site run by Black Viper at www.blkviper.com/ to be extremely useful in unravelling the mysteries of XP Services. Particularly helpful is the Windows XP Service configuations.
Here's to the next 27 years, keep up the good work.
John M Wilde
