You can get them new starting at just over £100.

If thats to steep and you want a stripy lawn, I have a cylinder petrol mower I’m looking to sell, located in SE Kent.

It’s tempting not to spend too much to minimise your risk if she doesn’t stick to it. Chances are if you buy a shit guitar that is horrible to play you are guaranteeing it.
Whatever she gets whether it shop or second hand she should play it first and like it. Factor in the cost of a setup and get one of those snazzy snark clip on tuners from gak for a tenner.

A music teacher will normally help with buying a guitar if you ask them. They will point you to a shop, model and brand and may even demo some for you and make a personal recommendation.

I’ve been running the 120 version for 18 months and they’re still working well.

I’ve a salsa clamp on my 853. I use carbon paste on all my seat tubes now to avoid over tightening. Finish line do one for about £7 a tube.

+100000000 pauloxo

For the betterest bread, use a kenwood little chef

Mathletics is good for kids

norm – I’ve seen the seal kits for £40. I’m ordering some supergliss 100K to change the oil in mine and clean them up in the spring. I doubt I’ll need spares and if it’s anymore complicated than seals n oil I’ll happily throw them at a tech for a proper service. they’ve been faultless to date – I’d def buy again.

+10000000 for lessons. It’s the fastest bestest route to becoming a rock star :)

You can learn using books and websites, the recommendations here are good, but a website cant tell you you are doing it wrong and can’t tailor the training to your learning style or tailor the course to your goals as a musician.

Install sophos or one of the others recommended here. Disable java if you do not need it.

Macs not needing AV is fanboi propaganda. Yes you may get away with no AV and have a greater chance of getting away with it than a windows system as there is more malicious code aimed at windows.

Ether way, remember this – the best AV protection out there is the user. No AV system offers 100% protection.

Edit – the above suggestion to create a separate accounts is a great idea as it guards against the users. If this is a family PC setup everyone with no admin rights, create an admin account and use it for admin only.

OK, the one I ordered from Amazon (Jazooli) seemed to be OK quality and I’ve fitted it. It works. There’s an area that is a bit dodgy on the screen but that could have been caused when fitting it.

I’ve flitted iphone 3GS screens and they are a lot less faffing. It’s fiddly with lots of small screws but easy enough if you can follow instructions and watch the instructional videos all the way through before you start :)

Ordered one off amazon and hoping…

I’ve a slot dropout inbred that i converted from SS to Alfine to use as a winter bike but dont use it as I prefer to ride my FS.

Most FS bikes are OK and not a PITA in the winter – it’d be good to know what bike your mate had molgrips, cos my multi pivoted DW linked Turner’s bearings are in better shape than my 5’s were. I think it depends a lot on the bike and how the bearings/bushings are implemented rather than how many pivots. That’s only a factor when the buggers need changing.

To answer to Turner Q above re the DW v non DW bikes – I think they both use zerts but on the later bikes they are screw in rather than press fit.

I ride all year round and occasionally the bike ends up submerged to varying depths. I’d say the bearings (bushes) on my flux outlast those on my 5 or super light. Obviously it’s more of a job though on the flux as there is more of em. YMMV and all that

My desk is 820 – I’ve had the humiliation of a higher than everyone else desk before. I’m replicating that setup at home as it was comfiest.

Thanks for the suggestions and links – please keep em coming.

A fool and his money and all that….

I once had a giggle when a shop assistant was tying to tell me that I needed a more expensive optical cable than the cheap one I was buying as it would get interference off other cables….

thx drac

I wash my Gore Phantom after every ride. Follow the care instructions. White is not a good colour for MTB so the only real advice is not to buy white? :twisted:

Can we have some scope recommendations please :)

I think time machine will require a separate partition on the raid array cz mentions if you choose that option.

Also, with that option how does the iTunes library format vary between windows and Mac OS? (In terms of the format of the raid array). Can you have the same library readable by both Mac OS and windows due to the two OS’ having different hdd format requirements?

Sounds to me like you need/ want iTunes Match

http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/itunes-match/

You won’t need a nas just for music in this case and it will work across PC, mac and iPad. It’s working well here.

Running iTunes 11 on PC and mac here which is an improvement on previous iTunes versions (not hard really) and various iPhones and iPads running iOS 5 and 6

“iTunes in the Cloud” = iTunes Match, correct?

No, or at least that’s my understanding. iTunes in the cloud is what you have purchased in iTunes being available in the cloud (and is separate from your free 5GB allowance).

iTunes Match is a separate paid service that allows you to upload (or iTunes will match) all your non itunes music and store that in the cloud for you. It will also change the bit rate if the bitrate of the music you are uploading is of a lower quality than whatever itunes provides it at (256 DRM free IIRC).

iTunes Match is also separate from your iCloud storage

So based on that your opening statement is incorrect.

iCloud and iTunes in the cloud are different things.

Everything you buy from iTunes is available in the cloud and this does not impact your free 5gb that you use for backups etc.

iTunes in the cloud costs £22 a year and means our entire library including non iTunes purchased music is available. Read up on it, it’s quite good.

The new iTunes is better than the old (IMO) but I still prefer WMP.

Vista v.v.v. bad, W7 and W8, v.v.v. good.

There are tons of self build guides on the web, there are shops that sell bundles of the main components so there are no interop issues and the same retailers also build PCs custom order. Have a look on buyer.com or overclockers.co.uk.

That said, you seem fairly set on the Apple experience and prepared to invest in it. You’ll like the iPad and mac integration of the bookmarks and tabs in safari. Timecapsule is expensive but pretty cool (I’m told, I have no experience). I connect and external HDD and use Time machine to manually backup once per week ish.

Airport express can be a bit hit and miss I find. Some days it streams perfectly, other days there are breaks in play back other days it cant lock on so have to disable/enable AE to get it working again (Apple stuff “just works” my arse :)). I have good wifi coverage in the house…

You will like what you are suggesting and it should be relatively easy to setup and get working. You’ll also get 90 days tech support with it to help as well.

This site has some good tips and will talk you through the basics: http://www.reedcorner.net/mmg-defense/

Based on what you’ve told me here I’d say go forth and buy your mac* – you should be able to haggle a latte-moca-chocha-chino, sport jacket and roll neck into the price :D

Find a local Comet if you can that has stock and you’ll get at least 10% off. 10% is a pretty good discount. If you’re going into an Apple shop, and they wont move on price get them to throw in 3 years Applecare.

*just bear in mind my initial comments, set expectations accordingly and be ready to google/call applecare :)

Edit – and let us know how you get on and what camera you go for – a HD camcorder is on my todo list

I forgot to mention compatibility issues…. IME, windows HW and SW compatibility is pure chance as to whether they get along…. recent graphics card replacement being a prime example and again I’m forced to go down a ridiculous scenario of having to download graphics driver updates on a monthly basis, to then manually uninstall the existing driver and manually install the update… WTF is that all about??!!!

Possibly because I’m not tech literate enough to sort it any other way? Or because I’m dealing with a new bit of graphics HW in a 7yr old box?

I don’t want to sound unkind but it could be user error coupled with 7 years of neglect / abuse.

What version of windows are you running? If XP I can understand your issues and this may explain some of your issues (which lets you off the hook. If vista you are completely forgiven as that is probably their worst OS ever).

Windows 7 is a huge leap in user friendliness and stability. W8 is supposed to be better still.

No worries, glad to help..don’t want to be the continuous harbinger of doom and Apple heretic, but I don’t think they’re necessarily more secure. A better specked and self built windows PC would give you the connectivity, security and speed you’re looking for.

Remember the weakest link in any PC/mac security will be the user.

For mac security don’t listen to the don’t need AV crowd and install Sophos or one of the free AVs and disable java unless you need it.

That said, they do look very nice and are enjoyable to use, so enjoy, they do feel a bit special. Which one are you going for?

Their monitors look lovely but bear in mind where you will position it. One of the annoyances with my MBP is how reflective the screen is. If I’m near a window all I can see is a dashingly handsome :)

My plan is to at last make the ‘jump’ and leave the world of PC and endless windows updates for the time being and enter the world of the Mac….

.. loving the ease of use/simplicity thing and from reviews read so far they are certainly plug and play with the Mac…. but then that’s why I’m jumping to Mac…

If you are going from PC to mac solely for these reasons, you may be disappointed . :mrgreen:

Prepare yourself to be both underwhelmed and a little frustrated as neither of these reasons hold to be true.

If your coming from a PC World special then yes you will see a great deal of improvement as the HW will be of a lesser quality and the SW will be fairly awful.
For the amount a mac costs you could custom build a very snazzy PC for yourself that will have equal or better performance than the mac, be compatible with more stuff (HW and SW) and have enough left over to spend more than a measly £300 notes on a cam corder. You’d have enough for a decent starter DSLR as well.

I’ve recently moved from windows to mac, my mac was slower than my lower specked w7 PC (due to the SSD). Now I have installed an SSD in my mac, it is as quick – slightly quicker than my 4yr old w7 PC.

I didn’t intend this to read as a PC v mac post as neither one is really better than the other, just different. I like my MacBook and enjoy using it but that doesn’t mean I now hate on every other OS.

If you want one cos it looks nice and is kinda cool, you’ll be very pleased with it.

Back to your original question – if you were using a windows PC you would not need to ask, it really would “just work” :lol: :roll: 8)

Yum 8)

I have some XMM 120 forks that I’m very impressed with.

I dont think the CCK will let you do it in reverse – I’ll give it a whirl tomorrow if I remember. It’s probably as Cougar says and needs to go via a computer. I don’t remember an option to export, only import.

Or you could use icloud or dropbox etc…

If you’re going to keep your car for 2+ years, I really don’t understand the brain ache of whether to fit winter tyres or the 2 v 4 tyre / cheap tyre v expensive tyre debates on here.

You’d happily spunk way more than a set of tyres on a push bike and you’re talking about saving cash on one of the most important parts on a car..

By nice shiny black ones is my advise to the OP. Conti’s winter contacts, Goodyear UGs and the Alpins do well in the reviews. Buy 4.

Agree with doom and manic miner etc.

Duke nukem is on the list for me as it was the first game I multiplayed on. Took my pc to my mates house and connect the com ports to death match.
First online game would be star siege tribes, then unreal the battlefield etc

BF3 etc now due to the advances in gameplay and graphics etc.

118d sport here. It’s now a year old and been faultless (touch wood). Went for this rather than the m sport as I wanted more comfort on the motorways from the wheels. Feels sporty enough to me but I’m no boy racer. Fits a family of four in nicely, will use a roof box if needed for the summer hols

Very economical, cheap on tyres. Not had the joy of servicing it yet as its covered under a plan.

Without Stalin and the alliance with him we’d have lost, no question, as it was it was a damn close run thing.

By the time the infamous Yalta conference which seeded all that territory, we were a spent force and Roosevelt was seriously ill, plus he’d lost more than the Allies put together and couldn’t trust the ‘capitalist’ west so needed a buffer zone, I’d have done exactly the same in his shoes, there were already Maverick Yank Generals like Patton spoiling for a fight with the ‘commie bastards’. They like us had been at war for four years the yanks had only been engaged for two and hadn’t suffered anything like the losses.

It was a nasty business, but we were in no position to dictate terms and lucky to come out of it retaining what we did and even then the seeds were sown for the passing over of control of large tracts of the ‘Empire’ to the Yanks, who settled our hash once and for all at Suez in ’56.

I wasn’t suggesting we should not have got into an alliance with Stalin, history is clear we had little choice.

I was pointing out that Stalin was an arsehole just as much as the rest of those considered by history as being evil.

You really need to study what happened, read up on it, ‘they’ the Germans, and the Japs were a whole lot worse than the Allies, propaganda aside, Russia lost 20 million dead, 20 million!, that’s on top of the 6 million Jews slaughtered.

Yet you don’t mention a great number of those 20m dead were caused by their own side. Stalin was no less evil than Hitler. No surrender, rape, murder, clearing minefields with infantry to save the tanks, starvation, executions……his tools were similar and his intent the same.

Perhaps our greatest war crime was our alliance with Stalin

Back on topic; very sobering. We have indeed as they say, never had it so easy…

If you ever need to use the cover I’d avoid AA and RAC, both took 1.5+ hours for M-way assistance. Green flag were with me in under 30 mins.

Maybe because I had wife and kids with me for the GF rescue they expedited but either way when my complimentary cover runs out I’ll be back to GF.
GF also don’t mess you around if you need a tow – I got a tow home, then an onward tow the following day when I’d sorted out where the car was getting repaired.
RAC IIRC only offered to tow me to one garage of my choice so I couldn’t shop around. I think it was the same with the AA but cant remember if I’m honest.

There is more to consider than just cost of cover

Bugger, too late.

Was it called legends?

If so it’s on iplayer :)

I don’t think the retina is user serviceable so not a bad choice to give it a miss. The standard displays are great – even better if you use them outside as all you can see is the handsome devil that purchased it 8O

Depends what your planned use is but the i7 may not be worth it either.

I wouldn’t go for the upgraded mem or SSD versions as these can be upgraded more cost effectively and without voiding the warranty. Have a look at the crucial site for both and don’t go higher than 8GB.

iTunes 11 installed on my MBP seems ok. Slight evolution and improvement of the UI. No plans to upgrade my PC version yet.
Certainly not revolutionary or worthy of heaped praise though…

My shiny new MBP bought this week is no quicker than my W7 PC :(

But it is quicker than my work laptop :)

We’ve got a good BYOD policy at work so Ive been experimenting with using it for work. It’s been a steep learning curve and fairly frustrating with the limitations in office 2011 but at the same time, bodging some scripts together to work around the limitations in outlook 2011 has been enjoyable.

Ive created a cheat sheet of shortcuts 8)

/troll mode on

I’ve never heard a windows user ask how to right/secondary click 8)

/troll mode off

:lol: