Thursday 28 July 2011

VW Passat Bonnet Latch Failure - Fault on Bonnet Pin

The bonnet latch (hood latch ) on my VW Passat TDI 2007 Mark 6 recently failed. The central locking pin fell out and the bonnet was only secured by the catch. When replaced it was also found that the wiring to the bonnet latch was also virtually worn through and would have broken very soon too.

Is this a general fault on the VW Passat TDI 2007 Mark 6? If your Passat has suffered the same failure then please leave a comment

Photo showing wear on wiring to bonnet latch

Missing pin on VW Passat bonnet catch

Missing safety pin on VW Passat hood catch - far left hole

Scammed by MultizoneAV.eu - What Can I do?

This is the statement from the real MultizoneAV.com

I am sorry to inform you that the goods have not been ordered from our company. I would advise that you contact the company you have ordered from which would be Multizoneav.eu and not us.

We do not believe that multizoneav.eu is a genuine company, due to other customers contacting us with enquiries such as yours. We have reported this matter to both the Police and Trading Standards and it is being investigated by them. We would urge you to contact your local Trading Standards, the Police and the Action Fraud Team on 03001232040.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Volkswagen Golf Mark 4 PD TDI 130 Remap Review

I recently had my Volkswagen Golf Mark 4 PD TDI 130 remapped by Angel Tuning. The difference in the car is amazing, the car is so much more responsive and smooth when driving. The economy is also improved by around 10%. The remap by Angel Tuning is not as aggressive as some remaps although the VW Golf Mark 4 TDI130 remap still increases the output from 130bhp up to 175bhp and seriously increases the performance of the car.

It is a common cliche but the remap really makes it like driving a different car. The engine is far smoother and the acceleration is stunning. Best of all in normal driving on the motorway you are getting up to 60mpg showing on the display. This gives an average MPG of just over 50 for each tank refill that includes some town driving.

In my view the Volkswagen Golf Mark 4 PD TDI 130 is the best Golf that has been made. For the money it is unbeatable; a reliable, comfortable and highly economical car that gives great performance and is a fantastic drive. I can currently see no reason why we would ever want to chaneg this car.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Amy Winehouse Death Video Facebook Scam

As usual with world events that are the latest news, scammers have taken advantage of Amy Winehouse's death to launch multiple scam video links on Facebook.

As with the death of Osama Bin Laden these video links promise pictures of the last moments of Amy Winehouse but in reality are either viruses or scams that will earn money from you clicking the link and will flood your Facebook friends with the link on their profiles.

Don't click the links and if you see a similar link appear on your wall then please delete to prevent it spreading.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Payments to MultizoneAV.eu/MultizoneAV.net/MultizoneAV.info via UKcash

UKash have posted an alert on their website warning about the scam being carried out by MultizoneAV.eu, MultizoneAV.net and MultizoneAV.info. They are unrelated to the genuine UK company MultizoneAV.com and are trying to confuse shoppers by association with their good name.

UKash vouchers are not a valid form of payment to MultizoneAV.eu/MultizoneAV.net/MultizoneAV.info and they advise not to send any money to this company as you will lose it.

http://www.ukash.com/uk/en/alerts/multizoneav-not-a-ukash-merchant---do-not-send-them-ukash.aspx

Stay safe and avoid being scammed by MultizoneAV.eu/MultizoneAV.net/MultizoneAV.info

Sunday 17 July 2011

Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2 - 2D or 3D?

Just seen Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 2D having been disappointed with 3D films we've seen recently (Pirates of the Caribbean being one) and feeling that the 3D effect didn't add anything to the film for the extra £10 it costs.

Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2 was good but we found that in a number of places the 2D picture was fuzzy; whether this was a problem with the cinema projection or some artefact from the 2D/3D conversion process we were unsure. The picture for parts of the 2D Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2 did actually look like the 3D version. My 11 year old son also noticed it so it wasn't just me.

The verdict of reviews has been that the 3D version of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2 doesn't add anything to the film and the general dark tones through the film actually makes it very hard to view in 3D so I think we made the right choice seeing the 2D version of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2.

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-2-is-Better-in-2D/9215

Friday 15 July 2011

Why does HD video from Canon 60d not play back smoothly?

My video from Canon 60D won't play on my PC /How to Play Canon 60D Video on Computer/Smooth Playback from Canon 60D?




A common question about the MOV video files that are produced from the Canon 60D cameras is how to play them smoothly on a PC as they can be very choppy/jerky when played as the MOV format. The files are in the H264 compression format and to play Canon 60D video smoothly you need a very high end PC with fast graphics card and plenty of RAM. My PC has Quad core processor, 8Gb RAM and ATI Sapphire HD 4850 512Mb graphics and generally will play smoothly as long as other processes are not running



Even if you have a very high spec PC the playback can still be jerky and not smooth. The best way that I have found to play Canon 60D video smoothly is to use some software called Cineform Neoscene. This will convert the MOV files which are highly compressed into a more usable AVI format that your PC can play easily.



You can get a free trial of the Neoscene software from the Cineform website and to purchase is around £70. This may seem a lot of money but remember that with this software you can then edit the video on your PC using Windows Movie Maker without having to purchase any further software and also without buying a new high spec PC.

Wednesday 13 July 2011

multizoneav.eu Scam Website for Cheap iPads & Macbook Pro

As with all the other goods they are listing on their multizoneav.eu scam Website the cheap bargain iPads & Macbook Pro are scams that will leave you out of pocket with nothing to show for it.
 
No legal company will use this kind of declaration or want you to send cash to pay for these types of goods.
 
IMPORTANT: Non-Deductible VAT for Companies. The product(s) will be delivered as a gift package to the buyer.

Review of Cheap LCD/LED Plasma TVs From Multizoneav.eu?

Many people are asking about multizoneav.eu and a review of their website offering very cheap LCD/LED Plasma TVs. Firstly multizoneav.eu and multizoneav.net are nothing to do with multizoneav.com which is a legal, legitimate UK company that sells electronic equipment. Their name has been used by overseas scammers to trick you into parting with your cash.

To lend credibility to their website they have added some items such as cheap LCD/LED Plasma TVs listed as "out of stock". The reality is that all items are out of stock, they do not have any items to sell and all they want to do is get your money.

If you send payment to them using Paypoint or UKash vouchers then you will lose your money and not see your goods and as it is cash you have sent you will have no way to claim money back. Using a credit card at least gives you some protection which is why Multizoneav.eu do not offer that option.

MultiZoneAV Electronics Review - How to avoid the scam to con you out of money

We have recently become aware of a scam using the name of legitimate UK company MultiZone AV. The real company website is http://www.multizoneav.com/ and the Scam site is multizoneav.eu and multizoneav.net

MultiZone AV the legitimate UK based company have nothing to do with the scam multizoneav site using their name.The giveaway on the multizoneav scam site is that the prices are just too good to be true. It is just not possible to buy brand new Canon 5D Mark 2 cameras for £865, or with the 5% Multi Zone AV discount for £821. Canon cannot even make them for this price let alone sell them on.

The scam multizoneav also does not accept credit card payments and gives a variety of unusual payment methods; all of these are ways to take your money without trace and with no comeback to you. They claim that they can offer reduced prices without taxes, check how much you can buy a tax free item from Hong Kong and it is around the 15% below the UK price without VAT.

multizoneav scam can charge such low prices because they will never have to supply you the goods - all they want is your money and you will not get anything in return.

Please do not fall for this scam - contact the real Multi Zone AV for confirmation of the scam that is being run using their name. They have also put out a press release to alert consumers to the scam using the multizoneav name. You can see the press release here

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/multizoneav-passing-off-201107081274.htm

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Windows XP Permanently Acquiring Network Address for Wireless Card

On my son's PC I recently reinstalled Windows XP SP2 and connected it to the internet using an Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter. After a few days it stopped working and the message showing in the bottom right hand corner of the screen was "Acquiring Network Address" yet this message appeared constantly, even if the PC was left on for many hours.

Having done some research online it appeared that it was an error with the settings on the Asus WL-167 wireless adapter and the encryption method being used to connect to the wireless router. I realised that when I initially connected the Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter the PC was running Windows XP Service Pack 2 but that then updated to Service Pack 3 shortly afterwards and the Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter stopped working giving the error Acquiring Network Address constantly.

To fix the Acquiring Network Address problem the solution was as follows:

1) Open 'Network Connections' (accessible from the Control Panel).
2) Right click on the Wireless Connection, and select 'Properties'.
3) Select the 'Wireless Networks' tab.
4) Under the 'Preferred networks' section, click on your network and click 'Properties'.
5) Under the 'Association' tab, there is a drop down menu specifying 'Network Authentication'. This should be set to WPA. Set  Data Encryption to TKIP.

Having done this and re-entered my WEP key the PC was then able to connect to the router and internet.

It would appear that this Acquiring Network Address error can be caused by the Windows Update from XP SP2 to Service Pack 3 and that some wireless setting is reset as part of the Windows update in SP3. So if your PC is unable to connect to wireless network after installing Windows XP SP Service Pack 3 then the above information may be a solution to resolve the problem.

Saturday 9 July 2011

Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter Error Constantly Acquiring Network Address

On my son's PC I recently reinstalled Windows XP SP2 and connected it to the internet using an Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter. After a few days it stopped working and the message showing in the bottom right hand corner of the screen was "Acquiring Network Address" yet this message appeared constantly, even if the PC was left on for many hours.

Having done some research online it appeared that it was an error with the settings on the Asus WL-167 wireless adapter and the encryption method being used to connect to the wireless router. I realised that when I initially connected the Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter the PC was running Windows XP Service Pack 2 but that then updated to Service Pack 3 shortly afterwards and the Asus WL-167 Wireless Adapter stopped working giving the error Acquiring Network Address constantly.

To fix the Acquiring Network Address problem the solution was as follows:

1) Open 'Network Connections' (accessible from the Control Panel).
2) Right click on the Wireless Connection, and select 'Properties'.
3) Select the 'Wireless Networks' tab.
4) Under the 'Preferred networks' section, click on your network and click 'Properties'.
5) Under the 'Association' tab, there is a drop down menu specifying 'Network Authentication'. This should be set to WPA. Set  Data Encryption to TKIP.

Having done this and re-entered my WEP key the PC was then able to connect to the router and internet.

It would appear that this Acquiring Network Address error can be caused by the Windows Update from XP SP2 to Service Pack 3 and that some wireless setting is reset as part of the Windows update in SP3. So if your PC is unable to connect to wireless network after installing Windows XP SP Service Pack 3 then the above information may be a solution to resolve the problem.