Why is it that dual layer media is so much more expensive than single layer?

Typically I pay around 48p each for branded, 25 quantity, DVD-R spindles, but dual layer DVD-R is anything from £5 or more each in CD cases for quantities of 5, the largest quantity readily available.

Given that virtually all current generation PC burners are dual layer and even my Pioneer HD/DVD recorder burns dual layer, why is the price still so high? There is no incentive to use dual layer at all at these price levels and it is a heavy premium for the convenience of fitting all your data/video on to one disc.

George Edwards

Posted by Rob Jones on October 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5)

I have a Nokia mobile phone and have just downloaded the latest terrible, overbloated software to back up my numbers stored in the phone memory.

It is not very user friendly and impossible to keep the precious numbers in other locations like a CD or an external hard drive. Having just suffered a laptop hard disk failure I am a bit sensitive about this.

Can someone please write a simple program to download the numbers to a two column spreadsheet and that can be put as a software download on your site or on your cover CD. This is the approach SIM card readers take but sadly Nokia does not.

This sould be simple to download, use, edit and then upload to the phone.

Ian Rutter

Posted by Rob Jones on October 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5)

Having been a fan of iTunes for a long time, I wouldn't  touch the new version with a barge pole!

I downloaded and installed it, and it promptly re-organised all my music files by adding superfluous information, changing the  names and, worse, completely changed the file structure on my hard disk renaming  all the folders and file names.

How dare Apple think it knows better than me how I want to find my music. It has taken me two days so far to uninstall it and reorganise my data back to how I want it. But worse, anything that it didn't recognise has just been changed to "unknown" - so I have to decide again what it all is.

I am now trying Music Library instead.

Andrew  Jolly

Posted by Rob Jones on October 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Re you article on starting Windows XP faster:

I use hibernate all the time - I never shut down unless going away for a time - to speed up the shut down.

I use a power socket block which turns off all peripherals when the computer is shut down or hibernates. The result is an enormous power saving because I set to hibernate after no useage for
15 minutes.

John Lewcock

Posted by Rob Jones on October 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)