Also sitting this one out

I'm with you, Andrew. I consider myself to be part of the internet revolution. I've recently binned Vodafone due to their inability to service customers in the evening ("I'm sorry, our offices are closed. You can contact us on a webform" <but don't ever expect us to reply>) and an inability to fix dodgy network equipment in my home area. I also resent being sent a text to inform me that I'm near my 500MB data limit, when my data limit is 1GB.

So now, I'm on Three. I haven't yet needed to talk to their customer service, so don't know whether or not they'll deal with me in the evenings. But with their One Plan, I now don't ever have to worry about using up too much data. Their speed is sufficient for me and I took it on with their upgrades to HSPA+ in mind. Like you say, 12Mbps will do on a proven technology.

But here's the really important bit. I'm an iPhone user, I'll freely admit. The way it looks for networks is to find the one that it thinks is best, so Wifi first, 3G followed by Edge followed by GPRS. Frankly, I don't want my phone bothering with anything that's not 3G - I'd rather not bother trying to use the internet without 3G. And as Three doesn't have any non-3G and (with, I understand some rural exceptions) no longer partners with a 2G network as backup, I don't get those frustrating times when the phone switches from 3G to E to O. And back again.

Did I mention that I didn't have to worry about how much data I'm using? And did I mention that battery life on the 3G signal is good enough?

I'll come back to this 4G when it's a bit more mature; maybe by then, I'll have had plenty of use out of my iPhone 4S and will want to upgrade. Maybe by then, I'll have plenty of things that work with whatever proprietary connector my next phone has.

Right now, the poor choice of networks with 4G, the poor choice of equipment that works with a 4G iPhone 5 and the inflated prices with limited data capacity... the odds aren't in 4G's favour.

I quite literally now have something (to do) for the weekend...

...as there's clearly no shortage worldwide of old bits of kit, I am going to stop holding on to what I do have.

ATA Hard Drives - to be hooked up, archived and wiped

Ethernet/Fast Ethernet hubs - to be skipped

Cables that look iffy - to be skipped

Power bricks - to be skipped

CD ROMs - to be skipped

CDRs - to be checked for data, skipped

Kettle plugs, figure of eight cables - one of each to be kept, others skipped

USB sticks under 1GB - to be checked for data, skipped

Old MCP training documents - to be recycled

Old books - to be offered to my staff

Old mice, keyboards, PCMCIA cards, Parallel cables... you can see where this is going.

Not entirely true

Regarding all their kit being rubbish. I disagree. Having had a superhub for as long as they've been around I have no complaints for existing downloads at 100Mb. It's a great little 5Ghz wireless router and my old 2.4Ghz N router nicely daisy chains off it for legacy devices.

Similarly, the TiVo I've had since February 2011 is a great PVR and doesn't constantly reboot. Some of the older stuff like 1990s Pace boxes and the earliest Scientfic Atlanta TV Drives were indeed slow beyond usable.

Don't just assume that because you've heard from a forum that there are issues that they apply everywhere. And their customer service do exactly what I would expect a first line desk to do: whatever they can't fix they get an engineer out for.

We persist in using Virgin Media because actually their product is really rather good and 99.95% of the time delivers exactly what you've been promised.

Go somewhere else

I don't use IE7; but I also don't and wouldn't use this site. I can always shop somewhere else.

But the screen

At that resolution: it's not enough. Come on and give me more pixels!

Yes please

I'd like a software update to my (very late) 2010 model, please (KDL46NX713). It was certainly costly enough to expect that it would remain "supported".

I don't care about NetFlix, but I'd like the update to allow my Media Remote app on the iPhone to work (as it does on the 723). I'd like the 3D capability to work from USB sources (so that I don't have to connect my 3D Bloggie through HDMI, but can store the files on a USB stick instead) and I'd like an update to the other connected services.

It's not too much to ask, and I'm not going to buy a new net-connected TV to get these feature, but it doesn't seem beyond the realms of reasonable expectations, does it?

Having said all of this, the TV is still excellent and a very suitable monitor for cable TV... just don't forget about your premium users. Hey, look, it's got a WiFi and LAN connection and can access the internet for those updates, so get them developed and pushed out, please. And if NetFlix wants to drill Sony to get their service propagated to as many customers as possible and Sony could include those upgrades as well, then thank you NetFlix/Sony.

Thank you very much, Auntie

Well, criticise or deride 3DTV as much as you like, but Eurosport's 3D coverage of the French Open was actually very nice indeed. I'll take some free 3D, thanks BBC, until Virgin does something about getting more live/non-OD 3D content.

and then..?

So after the final missing in July, delivering supplies, etc, what happens next? How will NASA ship their next supplies up to the ISS?

Great

Perfect - an easy way to record concerts direct from the mixing desk.

FM quality will do very nicely, thanks!

A title is required

Meh... move along; nothing to see here.

And then...?

So where's the Sony and the Fujitsu kit line up in this? I understand there's an X-Series Sony (pricey) and a Fujitsu Lifebook PH530 with a Core i3...

Unidentified Port

Isn't it Ethernet?

Holiday reading

I don't normally do books, but as it's coming up to summer and there might be a beach with my name on it, why not?

I'll have one of those, please.

It's so much more than a VPN requirement

So AC suggests (at 11:51) that iPhones support VPNs. That may be the case. But won't an IPSEC VPN just go for the lowest common denominator? If the endpoints determine they can only communicate with low-grade DES (or even no encryption), they'll do just that.

Anyway, maybe it's more to do with the way that the iPod/Phone will only use Exchange ActiveSync as their mail transport. Maybe that's what they don't like and that the implementation they've seen to the BES is much better. Maybe it's the fact that Blackberrys are serious messaging phones, rather than consumer-oriented devices.

I, personally, would feel much happier with our "elected representatives" being in touch with their ministries to do just that, keep on top of messages, rather than stroking their toy in public and gazing at their latest app. Whether I want RESTRICTED emails being sent to these devices at all is another matter...

(No BB or iPhone here, just an ActiveSync capable smartphone. But then, no secure government policy-type stuff on my device, either)

Cinephile?

Surely Cineast?

I'm very excited...

...that TiVo is coming back to the UK. I have, since 2003, continued to pay them £10/month to keep my original TiVo Series 1 up and running. I know that sounds mad, but I just can't stress how good the EPG and the whole navigation system on the TiVo is. Now that my TV Drive (ok, V+HD box to the rest of you) is going to get TiVo too, I may even be able to put the old Series 1 out to pasture.

Thank you TiVo. Thank you Virgin.

It's a Sony

I know that people have beef with Sony, but if there's one thing they really do excell in, it's TVs.

The styling is very discreet. I would prefer it to have no speakers - frankly, this thing is going to be hooked up to a Home Theatre system anyway, so no real need. You don't spank £1800 on a TV without a decent soundsystem, do you?

And Sony's remotes are always clear and well laid out. It amazes me everytime I look at alternate brands how cluttered and poorly thought-through their remotes are.

Now, just one thing about that power switch. What's the MTBF of that thing physically breaking? My lovely Mum now insists on unplugging her set every night, as the last two TVs she had with physical power switches broke because the switch stopped working.

Goodie

Perhaps Fujitsu could give some of their own consultants these. They're starting to look a little weary heaving around their old-school bricks while awaiting the axe to fall around their jobs.

"but how do I retune?"

So, the website tells you how to retune. So does the original manual. Go and get it. And read it.

(Could have sworn there was an RTFM icon)

just two words

Al-gae back.

(I'll be back, geddit?)

And what about the C905

The Sony Ericsson C905 was one of the phones tested, and yet not mentioned at all.

(Sony) Ericsson have traditionally had an excellent call quality, cell handover and consistent User Interface, making their devices solid as a phone (which is basically the most important function, no?)

I'd love to know whether or not this still holds true.

USB encryption

Do you imagine that the cartel with their inroads into the telco network's details don't therefore also have the capacity to "undo" (read bruteforce) the amateur encryption on commercial USB devices? An AS/400 would provide surprisingly capable at such a mundane task.

No, this operative should have been unable to even put such sensitive information onto such a device. Isn't there a reason why, in the past, this would have been stored on off-line systems?

Grrrr. Still it keeps people in jobs mopping up their mistakes. Can I say fuckups?

more free storage than they could ever fill with music?

"more free storage than they could ever fill with music"? Really? So all those iPods with more than 16GB of storage lie unfilled?

80GB 5th Generation full without even starting on applications.