It's that time of year again; yep Christmas! But this year I won't bore
you by revisiting Christmas sites that I've already mentioned previously,
instead I'll talk about some computer sites or good bargain sites.
There will be lots of families investing in a new computer,
but from whom do you buy? If you read my article in last months Call Sign,
you'd probably never want to buy a PC... ever! But they're not all that
bad according to a recent report from Which Magazine.
Dan computers came out best; http://www.dan.co.uk
with Apple Computers a close second HERE
. Dell were in third place
http://www.euro.dell.com/countries/uk/enu/gen/
Evesham came fourth and their site is HERE
. Gateway came fifth although their site said "Gateway regrets to
inform all our customers that it will no longer actively sell its products
in the United Kingdom." Unsurprisingly, most other high street
computer retailers were slammed for their products and service.
Computer Auctions
For those people who know a bit about computers, I've got an excellent
site that must be kept secret! It's a popular site where you can get some
great, quality hardware from the best hardware company in the world and
although I don't really want to tell you about it, I will because of
course, you're regular readers of my articles...! Compaq have an excellent
section on their site where they auction off older and refurbished models.
If you want a computer that will run and run without any trouble, buy a
Compaq; and that's exactly what I did. The desktop I bought was a new
Compaq AP550 Professional Workstation 866MHz Intel Pentium III, 512Mb RAM,
18.2 Gb SCSI HD for £661 inclusive, which originally sold for £2,231,
and it rocks! Check 'em out HERE
The reason I say this is for someone who knows a little about
computers is because some of these auction items do not come with all the
kit; for instance I had to buy a graphics card and monitor for mine. So
long as you feel comfortable upgrading, this site is well worth a
visit. A word of warning though, as with all auctions please research the
product you're bidding for and try to stick to
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your maximum price. I saw numerous bidders bidding stupid money for
machines that they could've bought cheaper new! Then again, when you buy a
Compaq you're guaranteed quality, so paying an extra premium is well worth
it. If you want to bid for a PC and want to know what a realistic
maximum figure is, drop me or Call Sign an email with details of the PC
and I'll get back to you.
Special Xmas Offer for Call Sign Readers
I've also got a bargain site for you. The site belongs to a
friend who's offering all Call Sign readers a special Christmas deal for
his high quality ties. If you want a tie for someone this Christmas, then
hurry along to http://www.direct-ties.com/netx
and get 30% off if you mention this mag. Ties and Computers what more
could you ask for? More advice? Right...
If you're considering ordering from http://www.jungle.com,
don't! Jungle.com used to be one of my favourite sites for purchasing
computer equipment as they were normally cheaper than anywhere else and
would deliver promptly. They're still cheaper than anywhere else, but you
never know when it's going to be delivered! I've given up on my order for
a new 10/100 Mbps Hub. They told me that I could cancel, but they couldn't
stop the item being dispatched and I would have to refuse to accept it
when they tried to deliver it! That was the only way to cancel the order.
Well I won't be ordering from them for a while...
So to end my last article in the year 2001, may I wish you
all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and
Prosperous New Year. See you in 2002...
Vince Chin
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CALL SIGN COMMENT
WHAT WENT WRONG?
I have been a London Taxi driver for 31 years and could have
bought my taximeter 1000 over with the rental I have paid. There are some
parts of the country where the meter can be purchased with any tariff
changes then becoming the responsibility of the driver, however, my belief
is that the PCO will not allow that in London.
Be that as it may, had we been allowed to own our own meters,
we would screamed the house down at the recent fiasco presented to us by
the meter companies.
Firstly they failed to deliver a meter that could change
tariffs at the time they were ordered to by no less a person than the
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. Then, when they finally managed to write
a program that worked, we were then told that most of the meters had to go
back because they were wrong!
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At least one company made a charge to their clients (£10) to alter the
meter. Then they kindly announced that for the recall they would waive any
further charges. Waive charges? They should be paying us compensation for
cocking-up!
The result was that cabs were running around with different
fares for the same trips - especially if the trip was taken at around 8pm.
Amazingly, the PCO allowed this travesty yet I remember once being pulled
up for having an AA sticker in the back window.
One law for the rich...?
Alan Fisher
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