ok cheers, i wasnt meaning to have a go or anything, purely because there are so many happy HSB customers which is why i tried to avoid talking about it on the forum, and i appreciate the problems you have been having and the fact that you have been making the effort to reply to pm's and threads like this one. the only reason i hadnt got back to you sooner was that i was on me hols. on another note (the one on which the topic was supposed to be... i think that heatsink pads are very reasonably priced, since the plastic backings pads are under £20, just like other competing companies, the only thing that makes HSB seem expensive from some angles is the CNC backed pads, but these are obviously going to be more expensive as they are metal as opposed to plastic. in the long run this saves money as you can then just buy the material and re-use the backings which is a very original and awesome idea. thanks alot steve, Tom