January 2006
{Moved from IHAQ vol 108, as computer related. DD}
I'm in the market for a new PC (or perhaps laptop).
Can anyone advise of any good deals around or perhaps just point me in the direction of a reasonably cheap source?
Novatech.co.uk has caught my eye for their prices, but I haven't heard of the brands before (Maxfire, Neptune?) and don't know what their customer service is like. Has anyone had any dealings with them?
My specifications are basic enough but I would like a second hard-drive to back-up to. Is it best to install a 2nd one myself, get a PC with 2 installed or get an external one to plug in? Can a 2nd drive be installed in a laptop?
Thanks in advance.
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My other half has broken my car. Renault megane 1.9 rn diesel. It went cold in the cabin as he came off the slip road, he turned it off sharpish and rac brought him home. He says it could be the head gasket or the head could be trollied - how can I tell if it is worth fixing? He says scrap it, but I paid £2000 for it only a year ago and I need a car. The rest of it is pretty mint barring a few scratches, seems like a huge waste. Any advice out there for me? Read more
Oh if life could be that simple for us! The ignition on our boiler has gone tonight and I am shaking here!
He (t.o.h.) did try to start it a couple of days later and it was having none of it. Looks like I will be using shanksies pony for a while! Thanks for responding though.
I can't think of a good reason to balnk out the reg plates, but maybe I'm still recovering from Christmas. Read more
Few years ago we had an issue where our Honda Civic plate was cloned well over 200 miles away. Car never went there but another car with the same colours/specs etc.. was caught in the camera with our number plate.
At the end a retired police officer came to our house to investigate and he was convinced car's number plate was cloned. Since then I've never advertised a car on eBay or AutoTrader with full number plate on display.
Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year!
Was on my way back to Sheffield from my Girlfriends in Preston last night, doing about 85ish when i noticed a Police (camera?)van sneakily hidden at the corner of a bridge on the M61 (betweeen Preston and Bolton) Was to late to slow down by the time i spotted it. Now, fair play if i got caught, i was speeding,so they got me bang to rights (even though the road was empty. But my main questions are.........
1.What kind of camera do they use in these vans (merc Vito i think)
2.What kind of penalty can i expect?
3.Anybody know anything about the speed awareness courses, and waht the threshholds etc are?
4.One website i was reading said if the Police catch you (rather than a safety camera partnership) they often stop you at the roadside and issue a NIP there and then.
Many thanks everyone!!! Read more
Good news, he went into the local station to produce his documents and the sergeant took him to one side and asked him how fast he was driving, he said that in all honesty he would have to say 70mph, the sergeant told him this was the right answer, and bearing in mind they had no evidence to the contrary the case wouldn't be pursued.
Is it possible to fit different tyre size on the front than are on the back? For example 185/65R14 on the back and 185/60R14 on the front but both with the same speed rating? Is it safe and legal? Thanks Read more
You don't say whether the car you are proposing fitting these to has ABS.
The tyres can quite legally be a different size front to rear, however the sizes you propose have different rolling diameters thus if the car has ABS the ABS light may well be on permanently and ABS will not work.
If these tyre sizes are different to the standard fit for the car, then you should inform your insurance company you have modified the car. If you don't and you are involved in an accident (and the car is inspected), you will find you were not insured.
Looking for a fun weekend car to buy and fancy one of these retro beasts!
Anyone owned one and can give me an opinion on them? Is it a high insurance group? Anything I shoyuld look out for? What is the best model to have?
Know I will probably get shot down for wanting one...;-) Read more
2, yes I said 2 bags of cement in the boot, (old sizes bags!!), to attempt to keep the beast on the road. 2.8 Cologne V6. Nothing like it ever.
Whoooooooooeeeeeeeeeee! MD.
Reflecting on my years of private motoring, I thought about the best feature of any car I've driven.
Could it be the door mirrors that auto-fold on the Peugeot 407 when I lock the car with the remote (for those urban streets)?
Or perhaps the Dolby Surround option on the Volvo S80 stereo (oh, Radio 2 was never the same again!)?
Or the solar powered aircon in the Audi S8 that keeps running after you switch your engine off?
Or the electric boot close button on the inside of the Peugeot 607 (my friends got tired of that party trick, but I didn't!)?
For me, it has to be the electric memory seat systems that store complete seat and mirror and steering wheel settings for multiple drivers. It really makes life simple if everyone in the house uses that car.
Your opinions now...
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This is so true - you can turn the quarter lights right round so that a lovely cool rush of air can cool you down in hot weather. They only got rid of quarter lights in cars because scum used to find them so easy to open to break in to the car.
Help!
My 2001 Bora has developed a leak. the water is dripping down from behind the Glovebox onto the Passenger footwell. It's not a swimmint pool yet, but I want to get to the bottom of the problem
I've looked closely at the pollen filter (and broke a piece off the cover whilst putting it back, which I've replaced), which seems OK.
I had the car at VW to be checked and they could not find anything, and suggested a carpet removal costing 5 hours labour and £900 new carpet (to which I declined)
The water is definitely getting in through the area where the pollen filter is located though, as the whole area is damp, and the ?Fire-resistant fabric is very wet.
I sloshed water over the windscreen and then checked inside. The water comes through very quickly into the cabin.
My thoughts on the source are:
1) Possible blocked drainage causing backup of water
2) Pollen filter / cover(I know this is a common fault)
3) Windscreen seal failure - although it's the original screen
Any thoughts on how I can proceed with determining the point of entry and any other sources of the leak?
Many thanks in advance
Charles
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VW Bora (51) 2.0 SE
VW Touran (54) 19. TDI Read more
Yes. I'm quite sure now. The car does not have a sunroof, and for water to be between the windscreen and the dashboard does mean that either I've got a large rust hole in the roof or pillar, or the windscreen.
I think you are correct, it probably was not sealed from new, and gradually the weather/rain has made it worse.
I pulled back the rubber trim from both the drivers and passenger door and compared the seal, The windscreen sits on rubber strips and the rubber than sits on the car body (probably with sealant to ensure water tightness.
The drivers side rubber is flush with the car all the way down to the bottom.
The Passenger side has an increasing gap from about 4 inches from the bottom of the screen. Gap starts at about 1mm and becomdes 5mm by the time it gets to the corner of the screen.
The way that water runs off the roof of the bora, it goes into the rubber channel at the top of the windscreen and then down below the rubber door trim and runs down the windscreen edge to the bottom and out through the pollen filter area. A Lot of water can therefore pass next to the gap in the passenger side and get into the car.
Now the annonying (funny now though) part. I sealed the gap with some Loctite filler (£4.10 from Halfords) yesterday and let it dry thoroughly.
Pretty good, let's see some rain and cross fingers that the water stops coming in.
I had a small stone chip in the passenger side which has been there for some time.
This morning. It was a Hard frost in my area last night.
....the frost caused the stone chip to start a crack in the windscreen....I've called Autoglass for a replacement
Anecdote: Frost was also on the inside of the windscreen in the bottom passengerside corner of the screen., so I hadn't completely sealed the windscreen.
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VW Bora (51) 2.0 SE
VW Touran (54) 1.9 TDI
I have read articles about the quality of various brands of fuel and the whys and wherefores of using the premium versions of some brands, (shell optimax, bp premium, etc) but I have not seen reference to JET fuel brand.
I presume that this is better than supermarket fuel as it contains some additives, but can anyone tell me whether this is equal or better than shell, bp, texaco ?
I drive a '04 Freelander TD4, and whilst I wish to use 'good' fuel, there is a limit to my benevolence, (having last week paid BP £ 1.01 per litre as opposed to 95.9 for 'normal' diesel and I see 94.9p for petrol. Read more
In the 70s and 80s when my dad drove Fords he used to say that Jet petrol made his engine 'pink'. He now buys the cheapest fuel whatever it is.
I personally find that my cars (especially the Merc I used to have) run a bit 'flat' on Jet, Murco and supermarket brands but its probably me imagining that.
I read a thread on here a while ago that said that all the base fuel was the same and that the tanker driver added additive at the filling station where applicable.
I pay 85.9 for Total unleaded personally.
I have a one year Honda Accord Exec icdti on 17" Penta Alloys with Yokohama tyres. I am very happy with the car on the whole but I am irritated by the tram lining on country roads. On motorways it is perfect.
I have been experimenting with tyre pressures and have found that the tram lining virtually disappears if I inflate the tyres to the maximum settings for a fully loaded car.
The car went in for a service and the dealer deflated the tyres to the ?correct pressures? and told me that the front tyres were well worn edge and would be good for no more than 2000 miles (The car has covered 7900 miles from new). The dealer also told me that for my safety the tyres should not be inflated to the higher pressure unless I have a full car load. I am very surprised that the tyres will only have lasted for 10,000 miles as I do not drive erratically.
I also have a Vectra with Michelin Pilot Premacys that has covered 16000 miles with no real sign of wear so I am contemplating changing the tyres on the Honda to Michelin Pilots too.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced the same problems and has anyone else experienced tram lining with Michelin Pilot Premacys on the Accord.
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Sorry I meant to state that is my opinion not fact. Just based on experience on tyres etc, and also reading long term tests on some magazines, where the testers had reported the tramlining in some tyres getting worse as they wear out - got particularly bad after 1/2 way point. Replacing the tyres cured the problem.
Some tyres will tramline worse then others, don't know if it is the softer compound / higher grip levels - just assuming so.
As suggested it does affect certain tyre / wheel combinations more. Wider tyres I'am assuming worse off.
I know that not all tyres the same size are exactly the same size(!). For example a 205 55 r16 Michelin sits slightly differnt then another brand the same size. I think it may be to do with the compound, or the stiffness of the sidewall (cant remember).
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From memory, it was sometime last summer that you had to go to 6.0.4 to avoid the security issues with earlier versions, although you had to have 6.0.3 patch installed first. You will see each update listed in Add/Remove Components in Control Panel. The latest security advice for XP & 2000 users is of course to use Reader version 7.