[blacklion1725]

Ed not sure about current models but my youngest has had a Sony Xperia Z3 for a couple of years, still going strong, and among other things battery life is superb – best I’ve seen on a premium phone, and reception/GPS all top notch.

They have them on ebay £150 – £160 “New” which is a little suspicious given how long these phones have been out, and very good/excellent refurbs for less than that. Just a suggestion, but they look like great value to me (I’d trust the UK refurbs more)

[blacklion1725]

Brilliant read that Bob –  thanks and God bless him — and you will really appreciate the film I promise.

My mum’s side hail from Hastings on the south coast, one of many ports that sent all their fishing and pleasure boats over to scoop up our troops. She was only 7 at the time but remembers watching them all sail out and thankfully all come home. The old Hastings lifeboat that took part was sold after the war (to Scottish fishermen) but has recently “come home” and has a deserving place close to the old town….”The Ghost of Dunkirk”

 

[blacklion1725]

Most of us have sold our souls to google – I think it is more the point specifically about the home page – a bit obsolete with search boxes, the url bar and things like firefox/chrome new tab page. I still find myself using the google home page out of habit, and like others I like the big, obvious text entry box that screams “search”. The fact it has stayed familiar while the rest of the world changes is something I like too. Hope they don’t fix what ain’t broke.

[blacklion1725]

The Duke wrote:

Does anyone actual go to the Google home page? If so why?

Habit for me, and also use duckduckgo as my default search in the url bar means if I want “google” I go to the home page.

Older folks I help also like it as they see it as “the internet” or at least the starting point for “the internet” – which I completely get since it is a good a place to start as any. I think it is still the most common “home page”, which I reckon is probably a lot to do with how plain and simple it is. Be interesting to see how it goes and what the effects are. No skin of my nose but sometimes less is more.

[blacklion1725]

I’ve got a couple of USB Type C devices and agree the interface is way better. I’m swapping out the charge cables in the house and car for these to cope with current hybrid state.

Battery life is still an issue though. 40 minutes is still a fair old chunk of time, and also assumes you have access to a charger when you need it.

Been giving a lot of thought to what my next phone would be – current Samsung S5 I’ve had longer than any other phone and doubt I’d replace it before it breaks. The hot-swap battery is a big advantage for me, but even then the native 2800mAh battery is quite small. Mine sees me through a day’s normal use but not by much, so having a spare in the pocket is reassuring. I’ve got a dual SIM chi-phone that I use for holidays, which has a (removable) 4200mAh battery, big improvement but also much heavier.

Back on the connector, the S5 has a USB 3 charging port (although I only use the normal USB 2 “half” of the socket). I’ve a feeling that design has made the socket stronger as it is still going strong. The reversible type C wins hands down though – especially when “tired and emotional”

There is hopefully a battery breakthrough coming (like lithium over Nicad), still the main niggle on smartphones and tablets.

[blacklion1725]

6-0…….fair play ladies.

[blacklion1725]

Awful news Bob – it really is a terrible disease – and apparently one that would get us all if we lived long enough. Small comfort in your friend’s case that progress is being made on many fronts . Can only wish him, his family, you and his mates all the best. If there is somewhere after we shuffle off he will have a place at the top table.

[blacklion1725]

still a great price…thwse are excellent…..paid £30+ for mine and worth every penny….wish I needed more!

[blacklion1725]

On a related note – if you are on the Insider builds of Windows 10 they have finally restored the “Smart Files” or “Placeholder” feature – now called “Files on demand”. The old (8.1) version was superb – and might have got a bit of traction for cheap windows tablets if they didn’t kill it with W10 – but that is MS for you. Anyway the new version is at a glance even better – you can chose what syncs and what doesn’t – but more importantly you have the option to see everything on your OneDrive whether it is synced or not. There are also more options than before, but just bringing this back has made me very happy, and makes Offoce 365 (with 1TB OneDrive) a great deal again – especially if you shop around.

[blacklion1725]

There should be a sound mode called “Direct” or similar (AFD on my old Sony) which just puts out what is put in. the other modes are I think more for getting a surround effect out of say a stereo source. Not 100% on this.

On mine for music a stick to Stereo or multi-stereo (front and rear speakers – 2 x stereo) and for TV I leave on Direct, and just toggle the mode if I don’t like the sound.

By the way not sure if you are a Sky customer, but if so you can (if your model is supported) get some basic functions (on/off, mute, vol-up and vol-down) from your Sky remote – link.

[blacklion1725]

I get it and I think its pointless! But can’t help myself sometimes…..will probably get bored of it quick enough and move it on but for now it is amusing me 🙂

Going back to smartphones, I jumped on board when the Orange San Francisco came out…and only “got it” when my 2 lads showed me what was possible (in the GiffGaff unlimited everything days).  Difficult to imagine not having one now, the S5 though is going to break my heart when it packs in as it is the perfect phone for me.

Maybe one of these Echo type devices will get me hooked, more likely to be Google Home, but for now it (Echo) is enjoyable enough……sort of in the smart watch category now, I know I don’t want it but still want it….

[blacklion1725]

The big Echo is quite nice – happy to pay £80 for it – don’t think I’d pay £150. As is often the case some functionality is crippled in the UK that is available in the USA (particularly voice calling and messaging). No idea why. The speaker itself is very decent – be even better with a “line in”, “line out” and a battery pack option but am pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy it all was.

Duke BTW don’t know if you tried your puck/dot with the TP-Link smart switches but it works fine e.g. “turn on front room lamp”.  Still feels embarrassing saying it mind.

I think if we got the echo-echo voice calling app over here (you can frig it but need all your contacts to frig it too so not practical) it would make it a lot more appealing to me.

Saying that, it is still likely to be a keeper in my kitchen.

[blacklion1725]

I played about with a Lumia for a while and then sold it. I thought the OS was very nice to use, but app support was awful…..but amazingly not as awful as its integration with your windows home network – which was much, much worse than either Android or iOS.

[blacklion1725]

That makes sense – I have had a bit of luck reselling on ebay in the past  (e.g. breaking up and selling bundles of power tools) but I know you do it as a business.

If the speaker on the Echo is decent I my well keep it, if not and I have a play then get my money back I’ll be happy. The fire stick is a keeper.

Staggers me what people will pay on ebay – especially for Amazon products where in stock (at Amazon) products like Echo, Fire sell for more than RRP. …..good news for sellers though.

[blacklion1725]

I’m not that bad Jason, but its so tempting I may get there yet.

I am desperately trying to not buy the Huawei smart watch 2 (£209 today). Have gone foe Echo (the bigger one) and a Fire TV stick for 2nd telly.

Don’t know whether to be happy or not – the TP-Link smart plugs were £16 – have 2 (all I need for now) that were north of £30.

I wonder if this is ahead of a permanent price drop on their own items (e.g. Echo and Fire stick) – the discount (on the Echo) is huge. I may well end up selling the Echo but interested to have a play….I really, really don’t need it but couldn’t help myself.

[blacklion1725]

Yeah you are right – I will follow the expert. The DP switch is outside the bathroom, cable can be re-run easily if needs be – but as per all the advice on here will see what the man in the know says later this week.

Thanks All

[blacklion1725]

Reading up on Jaycee’s regs table is interesting. My drop inside a stud wall has no insulation (inside the cavity) but I can’t find one of the reference type that fits that case (only insulation where the T&E is either touching the plasterboard or not). In my case it is a hollow cavity so I don’t know. Won’t know till Thursday now either.

The “direct clipping” means the surface it is clipped to will conduct heat away, whereas running down the middle of fibre glass lagging will make it hotter. Also there is length of cable run (voltage drop, which I think I can ignore as it is only around 6 yards.

Be easier to have a bath!

[blacklion1725]

I think your maths are right anyway – except the old one probably took 9 times as long to get wet so ended up about the same!

 

[blacklion1725]

Its older than my youngest who is 22 – not sure by how much but it was OLD.

[blacklion1725]

Thank you all. Sparks will be here this week. Part of the cable is behind a stud wall, but easy enough to move or adjust since on the inside of the bathroom there is new waterboard up (screwed on) – not tiled yet – which can be removed very easily. I’m inclined to just go for a lower rated shower. There is a few at 7.2KW which fits the 32A “worst case” criteria for the 10mm cable – but I’ll see what he says when he has had a look. I also hadn’t realised (till he told me) that standard mains is 230V now not 240V, which annoyingly puts the more common 7.5kW showers just over 32A. As I mentioned the one it is replacing was 1kW – so it can’t be any worse!

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