on that? u must be joking

Talbot Sunbeams old Toyota Corollas - think they're called AE86 any beemer Rolls Royces and Bentleys Ford Escort Mk 1 and 2 Granadas and Scorpios Andy

I've just had a look at your speakers on the superfi link - they're selling them for 170 quid. Have you considered selling them and getting some better floorstanders rather than spending 300 quid on a sub? Andy Ah your amp is about 100 quid. Hmm - it's generally advised that you should spend roughly the same on each bit of your stereo so they match. It'd be well worth checking that your speakers still distort with a higher powered amp and so make sure that it's the speakers that are the limiting factor.

Citroen Saxo 1 litre - driving instructor's car. Not bad for a first ever car driven Volvo 340 1.4 - By far the most fun car I have ever driven, but then i also probably did the most stupid stuff in it. BMW 523i - quite nice but unable to do rolling burnouts Rover 400 1.4 16v- crap, really crap Triumph Acclaim 1.3 - really light and surprisingly rapid with nice handling Vauxhall Nova 1.2 - felt like sitting on a dining chair when driving Volkswagen Polo saloon 1 litre i think - don't remember much but it felt solid Land Rover Defender 90 diesel - lots of fun but serious effort on the clutch and gear change Volkswagen Polo hatch - only ever driven on grass Rover 200 1.4 16v - quite nice, fun handling but not a lot of grip Toyota MR2 - fast and nice interior Peugeot 206 1.4 (i think) - ok, but nothing special Volvo 740 Turbo - serious kick in the back when the turbo comes in Nissan Micra 1.2 - nice handling and quite nippy BMW 520i - had a lot of fun in, but not massive amounts of grip. Annoying wobble at speed Vauxhall Vectra diesel (old shape) - was ok, most impressed with the windscreen wipers on the day i borrowed it Ford Transit (new shape pre facelift) - a lot more go than i expected - was good to drive BMW 530i - nice and really quite rapid, but dodgy clutch. BMW M5 3.8 - hehe oh yeah. needs bit of bodywork sorting and the headrest motors sorting and it will be a minter. Andy

Frostwire is a limewire alternative with a similar interface but as far as i know has no spyware in it. Works for me ok.

Are you still able to access the shared folder of other people within the same hall at Lufbra?

I've not seen 601's go on ebay for less than 100 quid. I also don't think that they have any real advantage over their competitors in the price range. That said i would like a pair of 602's to complement my nad amp. I don't pretend that eltax monitor III BOOKSHELF speakers can be compared with B&W but like Andy (tank rider) said, it's not likely that either the amp or the speakers will be the limiting factor in the audio quality, and they are a good speaker for the money, having listened to them in various peoples set ups. Andy W

I've had a quick look on the ebay and there doesn't seem to be too much ending soon that's worthwhile, but here's a start: amplifiers: Nad amp and receiver Marantz amp Pioneer Amp Look for old stuff from brands like Nad (my personal favourite), Rotel, Cyrus, Marantz, B&O, Cambridge Audio. Be careful when looking at stuff from Sony, Pioneer, Technics, Panasonic Kenwood etc that it hasn't just come from a dismantled midi system. Speakers: Have a look at eltax monitor III's on Richer Sounds or otherwise: Old Bang and Olufsen If you avoid acoustic solutions and anything that looks like it's off a cheap midi system you'll probably be alright - brands to look for are Mission, Acoustic Energy, Eltax, Gale, Mordaunt Short, Kef, Quad. Hope this has been some help, Andy

I agree completely. I got an old Marantz amp off ebay for a tenner and paired it with some fairly cheap speakers by Acoustic Energy and it sounded mint. I eventually upgraded the amp but only cos i couldn't think of anything else for my 21st birthday at the time. And regarding Bose - if you are talking the Acoustimass stuff make sure you read some comparisons with other speakers for the same price - they'll probably get trounced. Andy

Erm ok

The splash screen loads and then the computer crashes I haven't actually tried different drivers :$ but will do now. I'll give the older graphics cards a go when i next go home. Cheers for your help guys - i'll report back in a bit

Guys, I'm having problems with my computer: Occasionally it instantly shuts off. The only way i can definitely get it to do it is by beginning the Need for Speed Carbon demo. Once it has crashed the power light on the front starts flashing. I then cannot turn the computer on again as the normal power switch doesn't work. The only way i can get it to come on again is by disconnecting the kettle lead from the power supply. After a few more flashes with no power to the computer the power light does not come on again. I can then plug the computer in and it starts up fine. It has also been known to do it randomly when I installed Emule a while back. I thought uninstalling that solved it but apparently not. Can anyone suggest what the problem might be - i'm currently thinking it's a power supply problem but don't really know, and don't have a spare to test with. Spec: MSI K8T Neo motherboard AMD 64 bit 3200 processor (754 pin) Geforce 7800GS (AGP) 1024 MB ram WD Raptor 36gig hd SATA Maxtor 160gig hd SATA Maxtor 160gig hd ide Soundblaster 5.1 digital WinTV card ethernet card DVD writer Tagan 480w power supply Cheers, Andy

I wouldn't worry too much - my housemate is just a little protective of his project Andy

It sounds and looks like it's going to be good. Nice one. I just want to check at this point that your dad has either asked you to do it or at least expressed some dissatisfaction with the state of the room as it was before he went away? Andy

My housemate says he will "wup your ass" in his Reliant happily anyday. I personally have no opinion on the drift car but those of you who know my housemate (Phunt) will realise he's probably right Andy

Don't take the piss unless you've actually had a go in one. Now this is what I want... [attachmentid=7488] (BMW e34 M5) Oh, now hang about...

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It seems life is being shit at the moment. Andy

I got lessons and test for my birthday, and was luckily able to drive my dad's car on his company car insurance so did a bit of learning in that. We had an old banger (Volvo 340) sitting on the drive and after I passed my test they insured me on that. I think I was quite lucky but there were a fair few people who were being given new cars at the same time. Andy

I haven't had a massive amount of experience with DeWalt but they are suddenly appearing at low prices in places like B&Q. Methinks the quality might be going downhill on the lower end stuff. I like Makita meself, but for normal DIY you don't really go that far wrong with some Performance Power stuff - it's not always right first time, but the guys at B&Q seem perfectly happy to get them out and check them before you buy. Andy

A lot of people I know from Whitby came to Scarborough Sixth form to do their A-levels and seemed to get on pretty well with them. I presume you're at Whitby Community College? It's early in the year and might be worth finding out about transferring to Scarborough. I got on well with the Maths teachers there and the guy who's now principal (Tom Potter) is pretty sound - he took us for Duke of Edinburgh back in the day and is a keen mountain biker. Andy

[attachmentid=5081] but if they did they'd probably be the best barbecues in the world. (Having managed to cook a grand total of 6 burgers on a disposable bbq it was time we upgraded) Andy

dream academy - life in a northern town

You can watch HD video on your monitor in full resolution without any probs because monitors tend to be able to run in at least the lower HD resolution (720p which is 1280x720) admittedly most of us can't watch in highest res HD at 1920x1080. I don't think you'd really notice the difference HD makes on anything less than 32": we've got a 28" HD LCD at home and a 28" non HD crt telly at uni and i actually think for normal telly and dvds the crt telly looks better. Andy

first one is heroine

I've had the slvr L7 since just after christmas and if you're not bothered about an uber camera (it's only vga) then i can heartily recommend it. It feels solid, is slim enough to not be annoyed by it in your pocket, it's big enough to get the mouthpiece close to your mouth and ear piece close to your ear, and the screen does look mint. My only worry is scratching the screen as it's not replaceable as far as I know: My old 6230 got mullered but i wasn't worried because it was xpress-on. I have taken to carrying all my junk in my left pocket and just the phone in my right. Andy

On my laptop which runs windows 2000 I have installed bit torrent and use zone alarm free firewall. There doesn't seem to be anywhere in the free version to set up ports for bittorrent to use and so i am unable to download using bittorrent on it. Can anyone suggest another free firewall which will allow me to do this, or a work around for zone alarm? Cheers, Andy