tiggy

I really need a new laptop fitted with a 9 pin serial port. Nearly all desktop PC's have one, but due to my job I require a new laptop with a 9 pin serial port. Does anyone know if anyone makes one, and if so which make/model is it.

I want a new laptop, but my limit is to spend no more than £500 maximum - prefer nearer £400. What is the best one to go for, bearing in mind it will be mainly for internet use. What are the best combination of processor (speed & make), graphics card, ram, hardrive etc. Prefer bigger (17 inch plus) screen or larger. Will probably want to watch videos from Youtube or similar, e-mail, store photos etc.

Also looking at mobile internet, anyone know the best deal to go for ?.

I have a new style 55 reg Passat Sport 2.0TDI. When I had the tyres replaced yesterday I noticed the two rear ones were completely smooth on the inner edges, despite having 2mm over the remaining 90% of the width. Apparently this is a common problem on the new Passats, but Volkswagen won't admit it. Does anyone else have any further information or can enlighten me in any way over this. The tyre depot have obviously seen this before, and advised to have the rear suspension settings looked at.

My wife's 2002 VW Passat radio worked fine until we took the car through the local car wash. The engine was left running, radio still on, while I removed the external roof mounted ariel. After we came out of the car wash I replaced the arial but it no longer seems to get decent reception - it doesn't matter if I the ariel is there or not. During the car wash the engine and radio wasn't turned off at any point, I simply expected the radio reception to be fine after screwing it back on. Any thoughts on a fix would be appreciated.

I have a new model VW Passat Sport 2.0 TDI. Ever since it was new it has smoked when the engine is under load. Obviously the diesel produces a cetain amouint of smoke but in particular the Sport model seems to produce an excessive amount. The company I work for also got several SE models at the same time and these don't seem to be effected. I have noticed other Sport models have the same problem when I follow them. It's difficult to see your own car doing it because of the rear tinted windows darkening everything anyway. Earlier this wek the car went back to VW and had the latest fuel mapping upgrade, its now better but not acceptable. The only option on the car that may have any link is I chose cruise control, which the SE has as standard, but has to be added to the fuel mapping on this model. It has covered 37,000 miles with full VW history, and uses no oil. Does anyone or any VAG service technicians have any idea why this model does this or how to correct it please ?

I have one of the new Civic 2.2 diesels and am only getting around 40 mpg - some way short of the official claim. My driving is almost entirely in top gear on the mototway at 70-85 mph, with only myself in the vehicle and a couple of briefcases. What does yours do on fuel. The dealer reckons its my driving, but other owners either seem to get very good mpg or very bad mpg, just seems to be the way they are.

My 2002 Passat TDI S 130 lights up the ESP dashboard warning light after travelling about one mile. If the car is then stopped and re-started it seems to re-set itself until another mile has passed when it lights up again. The service indicator has just come up to say another service is due (80,000 full VSH), but I think this is just a coincidence. Pressing the dashboard ESP button has no effect. Does anyone have any ideas as to either the cause and/or how to fix it please.

I need to accurately draw a true parabola shape. Someone has given me a formula to use but I still don't fully understand it. Can anyone advise me on how to use the formula or how to proceed. I have a CAD system if it's of any use here.

I would like to get some sort of sat nav system to cover mainly England and occasionally Europe. What is the better system to go for ?. It must have a full 7 digit postcode search facility as well as industrial estates, possibly speed camera locations as well. Apparently Tom Tom and Road Angel Navigator are fairly good, does anyone have any experience of these or know of another good reliable system.

I have a Nokia 6230i and my wife has a Nokia 6230. I would like to transfer images & video clips from both these phones to my laptop. Transfering from phone to phone is ok using infrared but I cannot make my Siemens Lifebook laptop (Windows XP) accept or connect to either phone despite the laptop saying the device is working correctly. Any ideas or alternatively what is the cheapest USB cable and where can I get one from ?.

I would like to know which model of CNC control system is easiest to both program and use and on which machine models, including both lathes and milling machines.