I was disappointed that you did not mention the free program Picasa 2.1 from Google in your review of image editing software (PCW, December 2005). It leaves untouched your original photo, whilst storing the enhancements in a separate file. It performs a good range of quick fix operations with some control. It will, with the push of a button, make a gift CD, email photos, print or order prints via the web or even add them to your blog or make a collage.

It is also a splendid storage album with every file and folder indexed in date order. I attended 2 courses on Photoshop Elements 2 at the local college and bought a copy. This will handle far more tasks but is much slower for quick fixes. Try straightening a print by guessing how many degrees it leans. I resent the way it monopolises the screen whilst it starts up and it's need to contact Adobe every week via the web. When Photoshop Elements 3 came out shortly afterwards, I tried it for a month from your cover disc and found a worse browser with few useful improvements. If I had wanted to upgrade, Adobe made a tiny allowance for a limited period.

Now Photoshop Elements 4 has arrived and is the Editor's Choice. I hope they have fixed the browser. If it had been on your cover disc I would have wanted to try it. As it is I will stick to Photoshop Elements 2 & Picasa 2.1.

Charles King-Smith

Posted by on October 27, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am currently studying for a computing qualification, in the lesson on “E-Commerce Practices” we are taught that building trust is essential. It states that “Whatever product you sell, make sure that the B2B or B2C customer feels supported. Nothing makes a customer more uncomfortable
with a purchase than the perception of poor customer service.” A jeweller, for who I recently built a web site, told me that the jeweller business was all about customer confidence and insisted that the company phone number be on the site so that customers could get in touch with a real person. Why has no one told the big electronic e-retailers this?

For example I bought a router from Savastore.com all went well until the item failed to be delivered. I tried e-mailing the company to find out when my goods would be delivered, no reply. I tried phoning their customer service line (the number of which they were very reluctant to give me) only to get a recorded message telling me that all their customer service people were busy and that I should send them an e-mail.

Strangely if you phone their sales line they answer within 3 rings, but as soon as they have your money they lose all interest in talking to you (or replying to e-mail).

I did eventually get my router, but am now very wary of doing business with Watford Savastore.com, even when there are offering the cheapest available price. I now look for e-commerce sites which have a service line where I can help and reassurance if things go wrong.

Kim Harding

Posted by on October 27, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was most interested in your feature on printer inks in the current (December 2005) issue, but disappointed that it only covered photo printing. What about day-to-day text printing with black ink? Are cheap refills and unbranded replacements just as good as manufacturer's own cartidges for this sort of printing? Perhaps you could test a range of them.

Dave Haslett

Posted by on October 27, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've just been  reading about the Vista version of Windows in this month's edition.  Is it  just my imagination, or the do the screen shots confirm the suspicion that each  succeeding version of Windows begins to look ever more like the Steve Jobs OS of 10 or 15 years ago, Nexstep (or whatever it was called)?

Ah well, I guess  that's progress for you.

Andrew  Campbell.

Posted by on October 20, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Does anyone else suffer from this problem?  I  find the right hand button on my mouse is too sensitive, which means I am  constantly having to close down an accidentally called right-click  menu.  I tried to find a way to make the spring stronger so that I  could rest my finger on the button without triggering it, and I finally found a  solution. 

There is a small gap between the mouse body and the button on my  Fujitsu which is just wide enough to accept a short piece of elastic from a  small elastic band.  This wedges into place in the gap, and can be adjusted  for resistance by altering its length.  The result is a stiffer button that  I can comfortably rest my finger on without triggering it.  Eureka!   No more cramp!

David Kelsey

Posted by on October 20, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

After reading your glowing review of the Chillblast Fusion X2 4400 GTX in November's issue I hastened to their website full of enthusiasm.

To my dismay and I found that Chillblast's package  does not include either the keyboard or, worse, the LCD display. Their excuse appears to be that there was a 'misprint'!

While I would be the last person to accuse them of  deliberately misinforming you and your readers I do think that like was not being compared to like and to that extent was being unfair to the other  manufacturers in the test, unless that is, they are all doing it!

I think to be fair you ought to publish a disclaimer in your next issue and I will note with interest whether this is forthcoming. Not least I think you may consider it desirable to reappraise the 'Value for money' assessment.

Otherwise, an interesting magazine which I look forward to reading.
 
David Hopton

Posted by Rob Jones on October 17, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

I bought an HP PSC 1610 printer from Comet on Sept 1st. It went wrong on October 1st. I took it back to Comet, thinking I'd get a refund and buy a better, more expensive model.

"No - can't offer an exchange or a refund, it MUST go back to HP." So I pointed out that a non-printing
printer was not doing what it should do, and mentioned the Sale of Goods Act. The reply from the manager was: "Many people misunderstand the Sale of Goods Act."

I said I'd refer the matter to Hertfordshire Trading Standards Department, which merely amused the manager.

Being a teacher, I need a printer to produce work for my students. I need one NOW - not when HP/Comet send it back.

So I went to Currys and bought an Epson instead, and then read Herts Trading Standards website. One  stipulation in the Sale of Goods Act is that repairing an item must NOT inconvenience the purchaser.

I was very inconvenienced.

So I rang Herts Trading Standards, but got diverted to some vague Government body which told me "this is a grey area of the law" and "a judge would have to decide whether I was sufficiently inconvenienced".

Apparently, I could take Comet to the Small Claims Court, but I probably wouldn't win!

This IT retailer could not have been less helpful. I was willing to spend more money in their store, but they weren't prepared to listen.

And, as for the Sale of Goods Act, well it seems to be totally useless!

Phil Arthur

Posted by Rob Jones on October 13, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (31)

If computer viruses were to suddenly be eradicated overnight, much to the delight of users, what would be the reaction of software producers?

After all, anti-virus protection is a multi-million pound business. I imagine their reaction would be dismay, disbelief and horror as millions of pounds of software became obsolete and millions of pounds of business was wiped out overnight.

The majority of viruses come from the internet and ISPs, I am sure, could prevent most getting to the end user. If the public can protect their systems with the available software, why can't the ISP do it for us?

Whilst I am not going to suggest that the likes of Norton clap with glee when another virus hits the net, lets be honest - it does bring in the millions. And the cost of such anti-virus producers advertising must run into millions per year, so by scaremongering they pressure people into believing they must have the latest anti-virus software.

It is time that ISPs were liable for the content of what is downloaded from the web, and should the content contain harmful viruses they should be liable for repairing the damage.

I wonder how far away we are from the first test case - now that would be interesting.

J Shingler

Posted by Rob Jones on October 13, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have just replaced my desktop, as the power supply unit had failed.  This was due to a large build up of dust in and around the fan in a sealed unit that was not accessible to cleaning with either vacuum cleaner or compressed air jet.

The fan eventually became stuck and it had overheated. Mind you, the thing was pretty obsolete and needed replacing anyway, but why was the dust there at all?  It had been cleaned at times according to your “Spring Clean your PC” feature in the March 2004 edition, but obviously to no avail.

It is now over 60 years since car manufacturers found that putting filters on carburettor air inlets prolonged engine life.  They started as rather primitive “pancake” filters on the carburettors and progressed to the elaborate folded paper devices all our modern cars have. 

Dust is everywhere, especially in air of cities, and even in apparently beautifully maintained offices we are shedding skin scales as dust with every movement.  Dermatologists tell us that we all renew virtually our entire epidermis every thirty days.  Think of how much that is.

Try taking your socks off in a ray of sunlight and see a cloud of scales arise. All these shed skin scales and fibres from clothes and carpets in turn feed an entire ecosystem of microscopic scavenging mites who become dust in their turn. So why cannot computers have air inlet filters, easily accessible on back of the case?

No great engineering would be required to fit an easily replaceable disposable paper device onto the fan air inlet.  “Oh, but people would forget to change them, and the fans would get overheated as before” was the reply when I mentioned this to a computer maintenance man.

So, a very small program could be inserted that displayed a message at startup after so much running time such as “Warning - it is 200 hours of running time since your last air filter change. It may get clogged if not changed soon will result in damage to your computer.”

Charles Moon.

Posted by on October 7, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Congratulations on the new look. PCW has always been my computer magazine of choice for well written and informative articles. Now it's more readable than ever.

Like you, and no doubt most of your readers, I too have a passion for technology. My first computer was a floppy disc driven Amstrad PCW circa 1987. My latest is a Dell Dimension 5000 P4 with a 17" LCD screen. Using the excellent Serif Photo Plus 10,1 have been able to colour some of the old black and white photos taken of my children fifty years ago.

Having updated my hi-fi, I have burned all my old vinyl records and cassettes on to CDs for ease of use. My trusty old Nikon SLR is gathering dust while I snap everything in sight with a digital camera. These days my finances are kept in order with MS Money and I keep track of the running costs of my car with a program which I wrote using Delphi.

However, I do sometimes wonder whether much technology which we see today is being used simply for the sake of it. When I bought my new computer nine months ago, I advertised my four year old Dell in the village post office for £200 including the new free Dell printer which I had no need for and offered to set it all up.

Posted by on October 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)