Tayles_100

Cricket, Leicestershire, Yorkshire

I have an aversion to all things Apple, so I’m looking for an alternative to the iPhone. I’ve narrowed it down to the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Nokia Lumia 800. My priorities are a fast phone with a nice screen, a good operating system, interesting apps and a decent camera. I also want something that will fit easily in my pocket, which is why I’m put off by these huge modern phones.

The Samsung is a year old now, so it’s likely to be cheaper than more recent models. Android looks like a good system with plenty of apps, and I’m sure the phone itself is terrific. But it feels a bit cheap, the screen is bright by pixelated, and it’s still quite big. The Nokia is smaller and better constructed, which I like. It has an interesting operating system and I’m sure its camera is great. On the downside, it’s got fewer apps, I hear the battery life is lousy, and I’m worried Windows phones won’t get the support Android phones are getting. Plus, it’s a newer model so it could cost more than the Samsung.

Has anyone used both phones? Any thoughts or recommendations?

I am looking at buying a baseball pitching machine from the USA and using it in the UK. The machine uses a 90 watt (1/8th HP) motor and runs off AC power. My plan was to use a battery pack with a 300W inverter, plug in a step-down transformer, then plug the machine into the AC socket. Would this actually work? If so, would my transformer need to be rated to 300W to allow for the inverter's output, or would it only need to be rated to 90W to allow for the power of the motor?

Thanks.

See if you can help me out with this one…

It was a one-off, coming-of-age BBC drama from the late-80s or early-90s. It centred on a boy of about 12 or 13 who was spending the summer with another family in their house in the country. The father was a doctor and had a stroppy teenage daughter, who argued with him for working in private medicine, saying that it was like queue-jumping. The daughter's rebellious, outspoken behaviour contrasted with the boy, who was very quiet and obviously didn't come from a family where grown-up subjects were discussed.

During one scene at the beach, the boy stares longingly at the daughter, although it doesn't turn into some sickly adolescent love story, thankfully. It was more about him developing adolescent urges and his awareness, through her greater maturity, of adult concerns.

Sorry, not much to go on, but it's one of those programmes that resonated with me at the time, and I only just remembered. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,

I'm planning on getting a new laptop and want to edit AVCHD files on it. I'm on a tight budget, so I'm looking at a model with 4gb of RAM and an Intel i3 processor, which should offer decent bang for my buck.

The question is: will it be worth forking out a little extra for a separate graphics card? Would a graphics card even be used when watching and editing AVCHD files? If so, I know the integrated graphics on these new Intel processors are supposed to pretty good, but will it be enough?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi,

I've just got myself a Panasonic HDC-SD10 and need a decent editing package. On my old non-HD camcorder, I used Windows Movie Maker, which was simple enough and did everything I needed. I tried the Windows Live version of the same program, but it was slow and jerky, and didn't have a timeline like the old program. I also tried the software that came with the camcorder. It plays clips smoothly, but it's not very good.

Basically I'm looking for a user-friendly system that will run smoothly on my laptop (which is a few years old now). I don't necessarily need millions of fancy features, although a step up from Windows Movie Maker would be nice. I'd also like to be able to burn DVDs from the same piece of software.

Here is the spec of my laptop:

Intel Core Duo - 1.87Ghz

1GB RAM

60GB hard drive

Windows Vista

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi,

Where would recommend that's quiet, unspoilt, authentically West Indian, where they speak English and isn't overrun by Yanks or Germans?

Thanks.

I am thinking of buying a 240-volt, 250-watt single-phase motor, which I would like to run off a 300W inverter connected to a car battery. The inverter will produce the necessary voltage but am I likely to have any problems?

I am taking a cricket tour down to North Devon next week and we are staying close to Barnstaple. On one night we'd like to into the town for an Indian meal, visit a couple of bars and maybe end up at a nightclub. Most of us are in our late 20s to late 30s, so we don't want anywhere full of kids looking for a punch-up and we don't want to be crushed into a nasty nightclub, listening to cutting-edge dance music.

Can anyone recommend a good restaurant, some decent pubs and bars, and a nightclub where we're not going to be stabbed? And please don't waste my time with the smart-arsed "there isn't anywhere decent, it's all rubbish" replies. Thanks.