Ecossais

Hi Harvey, You say “Everything plugged in but nothing”. What equipment do you have (as well as the wireless router)?  How were you connecting to the internet before?  If you have upgraded from dial-up to ADSL are you sure that your line is now set up for ADSL?  If you’ve got 2 PCs / laptops with wireless network cards can the PCs “see” each other on the network?  Have you followed the installation instructions 100% to the letter?  Have you entered all the correct user / password / ISP configuration information (supplied by your ISP)? Although setting up wi-fi equipment is portrayed as being easy by manufacturers, I found it the most frustrating PC experience in my 15 years of using computers! I suggest you have a look on the equipment manufacturer’s website – they are bound to have a “Support” section with FAQs advising what to do when it doesn’t work as it should. It’s good when it works (mine isn’t either at the moment!)

Hi Ewa, It’s good that your husband is already on Vodafone, so he can get the “Passport” deal. Remember, to get the “Passport” rates your husband’s mobile MUST connect to SFR when he’s in France.  If it roams onto, for example Orange, he will not get the “Passport” rates.  A UK mobile when abroad by default will always search for the strongest available network at any time – he MUST manually set the phone to operate on SFR ONLY.  Instructions for this (“manual network selection”) will be in the instruction book if it’s not apparent from the menus. The upside is the cheap calls, the downside is that at times another network would possibly give better reception, but he will be no worse off than if he was using an SFR SIM.

Hi P,  I don’t know what happens if you try too many unsuccessful unlock codes – it may be that the phone becomes permanently “unlockable” or it may immobilise the phone in some other way? I have used Trycktill to successfully unlock an Orange UK Nokia 1100 for a friend, but I have also found that a Nokia 1600 could not be unlocked despite unlock codes being produced by the Trycktill site.  Apparantly Virgin phones can sometimes be a problem too. I’ve never changed anything in the “Box Serial” field as I’ve no idea what it does! My advice would be to find out if you can get it unlocked by a back street shop in a big town.  The “professional unlockers” do it by attaching the phone to a PC. The going rate for unlocking phones in the UK is £10 – you might be able to negotiate a discount as the phones as selling for £25 at the moment! I wouldn’t pay much more than €10 if you want to try to get it unlocked in France. The 3510 would have been a cool mobile when launched – I think it was the first Nokia to have polyphonic ringtones – a notable development in mobile history!  It was superseded by the 3510i which brought the useless benefit of a colour screen! Are you looking for a 486 PC to go with your 3510?!  I could help you out there – one owner from new, mint condition, relegated to the attic due to lack of street cred.  Only problem is it doesn’t freeze and crash like my Pentium 4 / Windows XP model!!!  

Hi Bannon, If I understand the Orange France website correctly you can send international MMS (picture messages).  They cost €1.10 for a picture up to 300kb file size.  See:  http://mobile.orange.fr/0/visiteur/PV?file=monmobile/pe_configuration.html There are several possibilities for MMS not working – try the following: Can you send a picture message to your own mobile number?  This is the first thing to try as it will prove if your mobile is correctly configured and whether your number is set up for MMS. If it does NOT work - Did the Motorola L6 you bought come in Orange branded packaging and are you using the SIM card that came in the box?  If yes – take the phone back to the dealer and ask them to check the MMS settings and that the number is set up on the Orange network for MMS. If the phone is not an Orange branded model (ie a “generic” version) – ask the dealer to check that the MMS settings are configured for use on the Orange France network.  (A “generic” phone will have the settings for all available networks, but the user has to select the correct network. If the SIM card you are using is from another NON-MMS phone, you will have to contact the network and ask for MMS to be activated on your number (if your last phone wasn’t a camera phone it’s unlikely that the number will be set up for MMS). Ask your recipient in the UK if they can receive picture messages from others?  If not, they need to go through the above diagnosis with their own network. If sending a MMS to yourself works – show the dealer what the Orange website says and ask him to speak to Orange to find out what’s wrong. The reasons you have been given are all nonsense – MMS problems are usually caused by either phone settings being wrong or the number (sender’s or recipient’s) not being set up on the network for MMS. Good luck! PS – Would it not be easier and cheaper to email pictures from a digital camera, and the quality will be much better?

Clair,   Congratulations on your purchase, sorry to hear you’ve encountered problems already.  Some thoughts on the points in order:   1.  Keys on laptop keyboards often have multiple functions – try holding down the CTRL or FN or ALT while pressing keys you think may be home / end.  For example on a Sony Vaio I have, “Home” is FN + left arrow in the group of up, down, left and right arrows and “End” is FN + right arrow.   2.  Are you using dial-up?  4 hours 50 mins is a long time for a file download.  Any noise or interruption on the line could cause a problem.  As Will says a magazine CD might be the best option.  The August edition of (UK) Computer Buyer with free DVD version includes AVG 7.1.392, Firefox 1.5.0.3 and Thunderbird 1.5.0.2 and loads of other useful stuff.  French PC magazines will probably also have these applications on their free CD’s / DVD’s.  If you install from CD rather than downloading the full programmes, you will only have download the latest updates which shouldn’t take long.  If you cant find them on a French magazine, if you PM your details, I can send you a copy of the magazine CD.   3.  If it is the “Installation Programmes” that you have backed up and not just the files – Yes, that should work.   4.  Can you not get broadband where you live?  Sorry, I don’t know what wireless dial-up systems are available.  I guess you would need a separate modem and a router.  Could you easily run an extension phone socket from where your current on is to where you want to use your laptop?   5.  You ask about your PCs speaking to each other?  Is this to move files back and forth?  If so, you need to “network” the PCs.  If broadband is around the corner it might be worthwhile considering buying a broadband wireless router and the network card for your desktop and wi-fi card for the laptop (it probably already has wi-fi / “802.11” built in if it has Bluetooth).  This would give you a wireless network and you’d be ready for when broadband comes.  Your laptop will be much better spec’d and more convenient than your desktop so you will probably find you will use it all the time.

Glad you found the site useful – it’s fairly easy to unlock a lot of Nokia’s.  If there are several unlock codes listed, usually the first or last one will work – try first, last, 2nd, 3rd… … Gyn_Paul:  Look after your 3510 if your eyesight is failing!  Nokia don’t make “decent sized” phones any more.  I assume you were looking for the IMEI number when you were trying to decipher the minute writing?  You can get this on any mobile by keying *#06# - it’s worth making a note of the number in case your phone is ever lost or stolen – your network can immobilise the phone or trace what SIM is being used in it. BTW - No self-respecting 14 year old would want to be seen in daylight with a 3510!!!  

I've used this site for Nokia codes:  http://www.trycktill.com/eng Click on the Union Jack to change the language to English.  You have to follow the instructions to the letter and need to know the network the mobile is currently locked to.  Some of the most recent Nokia's and 3G Nokia's like the 6630 cannot be unlocked this way.

Ewa, If the main reason for the mobile is for you in the UK to keep in touch with your husband in France, I would also suggest you consider him taking a Vodafone UK Pay As You Go (or contract) SIM / Mobile. Vodafone have a service called “Vodafone Passport”. The way it works is, when the mobile is used abroad, the mobile user pays a connection fee of 75p and then, for incoming calls (to the Vodafone in France), there is no other cost for a call up to 60 minutes.  Calls made from the mobile to UK while abroad cost 75p connection fee and then the normal cost as if the mobile was in the UK calling another UK number. So, if you phoned your husband while he was in France, it would cost him 75p out of his Pay As You Go credit and you would pay the normal cost of calling a Vodafone mobile.  If you used a Vodafone Pay As You Go mobile / SIM to phone him that would be 5p per minute after the first 3 minutes in that day at 30ppm.  A 30 minute call would therefore cost (in total charges) about £3.00, about half the cost of phoning a French network mobile using OneTel in the UK.. You can get further details here:  http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/appmanager/vodafone/wrp?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Page_BOS_MainContent&pageID=GM_0337 or from a Vodafone network shop. Note you need to request “Passport” to be set up on the mobile number and make sure that when the mobile is abroad it connects to a “Vodafone partner network” – this is SFR in France.  You need to make sure the mobile is manually locked onto SFR and not allowed to automatically select the strongest available network.  You’d also need to keep a top-up card in the UK to buy credit for his mobile while he is in France.  

Ray, A couple of hotels (Formule 1 / Ibis) show up on Intel's wi-fi hotspot finder:  http://www.jiwire.com/

Hi Clair, As Albert says, none of the computing tasks you mention are particularly power-hungry. If you are intending to use the laptop for picture editing and watching DVDs, I would suggest you go for one with a “Bright View” (shiny type) screen.  Widescreen DVDs will look better on a widescreen laptop, although your digital camera pictures will not fill the screen unless you have a widescreen format digital camera. You will be able to connect your digital camera, external hard drive, printer, etc, to any laptop – note if your printer is an older one which connects through a parallel cable connection, you will need to make sure the laptop has a parallel printer port. Some laptops have media card readers which accept the storage card out of your digital camera – transferring pictures is a bit faster this way, but it is not essential. Do you want a DVD recorder or just playback? You say you’d prefer a UK keyboard and language – clearly you will get a bigger choice by buying in the UK, although I believe companies like Dell France allow you specify a UK keyboard and English version of Windows XP.  If you buy in the UK you will have to get it back to the UK should any fault develop. There is probably more hype around PC specifications and components than with any other product.  You have obviously done your research to be up to speed with expressions like “dual core processors” and so on!  But, do you need the latest, fastest processor, 100GB hard drive, super fast multi-format DVD recorder, digital TV tuner… … …?  Probably not – unless you will actually use or need them! I’d recommend you decide on a budget and then compare models available at that price – some will be better than others with regard to a particular feature, ie one model may have a faster processor while another has a bigger hard drive. I’d go for the one with the fastest processor as this is the most expensive part to upgrade.  Ideally you want to see the laptops so you can compare the picture quality, keyboard feel, build quality and so on and not just buy from a website.  I’d go along with Albert’s endorsement of Toshiba or HP / Compaq – you may get better service from an international brand if you need it rather than a retailer’s exclusive line although you may get a better specified computer for your money by buying an exclusive. If you’re thinking about buying in the UK, have a look at what’s available from PC World http://www.pcworld.co.uk or Comet http://www.comet.co.uk    

John, Orange Line 2 is only available on Contract mobiles – both lines have to be on UK Contract tariffs (or French Contract tariffs, if Orange France offers the same facility).  You cant have Line 1 on a Contract and Line 2 as Pay As You Go or Line 1 on a UK Contract and Line 2 as French Pay As You Go, convenient though it would be! Orange UK and Orange France seem to be run totally separately – for example, a French PAYG top-up voucher cannot be used to top up a UK phone.

John, The Orange boffins have already cracked it! If you’re on a contract with Orange UK (maybe France too?) you can have a “Line 2” number and tariff on your handset. You have a second number, maybe one for work and one for personal use, on the same SIM and phone.  You can switch between Line 1 and Line 2 when making calls by pressing the “#” key.  You can set different ringtones for each line so you know if an incoming call is a business or personal one.  The phone will automatically switch between Line 1 and Line 2 for incoming calls. Details:  http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=OUKPersonal&c=OUKService&cid=1096023563451    

Hi Richard, An “integrated digital TV” (built-in Freeview tuner) would mean one less remote control which they might find easier.  The JVC IDTV I have has a “TV / DTV” (digital) button to switch between the analogue and digital tuners.  With a separate Freeview receiver, as with Sky, all they’d have to do is select “AV” on the TV and then use the Freeview remote control to change channels. An IDTV would give them the same range of channels range as a normal TV with a separate Freeview receiver unless they wanted any of the “Top-Up TV” channels – they would need a Freeview receiver with a slot for a subscription card (like a Sky card). I suggest you have a look at http://www.currys.co.uk or http://www.comet.co.uk and have a look at the difference in price between a normal TV + a Freeview receiver (around £30-£40) and a similar sized IDTV. You can check that they can receive Freeview where they live here:  http://www.freeview.co.uk   So long as they get a good picture on their existing TV, Freeview will be OK.  I get a better picture on Freeview than analogue with a set-top aerial.  

John, I don’t believe there is a ready made mobile phone which will accept 2 SIM cards at the same time. You can get a twin SIM adapter for some mobiles.  If you search on eBay for “dual SIM” you will see what mobiles people are selling these for.  You may already have a suitable phone?  They are not expensive, generally under £5, although there are versions which replace the battery on handsets like the Nokia 6210 / 6310 range which will be more expensive. Many of the adapters being offered for sale seem to be for older mobiles, although I note there are some for newer mobiles like the Samsung D500 / D600. I used to have one of these for a Nokia 8210 and a Nokia 6510.  They worked very well.  The SIM adapter for these phones was built into a replacement back cover. Be aware only one SIM is active at any time, so anyone calling the inactive SIM would get the same response as if the mobile was switched off.  To switch between SIMs you have to turn the phone off and back on.  If I remember correctly I had to move a small switch on the back of the 6510adapter as well. You need to have an “unlocked” phone if you are using different network SIMs.  You will also need to have your phonebook on both SIMs or set your phone to save numbers on its internal memory rather than SIM memory unless you want to have different contacts on each SIM. It may be easier just to carry two mobiles?

If you’re thinking about investing in Microsoft Office 2007 when it is released, you may be interested to know there is an 11 page review of it and fully working copy (“Beta 2”) on the CD with the August issue of PC Pro (UK).  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, InfoPath and Outlook are included.  The software will work until January 2007. I’ve just installed it and it looks very nice and different to Office XP, although I don’t know if it will do anything for me that Office XP wont.  You can install it so that it co-exists with an existing Office installation. You don’t need to have Office on your PC already, but if you don’t intend to buy Office 2007 you will need to save any files you create in “97 – 2003 format” so that you can use them with an older version of Office once the Beta expires.  

Steve,  You could try using “Windows Search” to find where the downloaded file is saved. Right click on the Start button then “Search…”  Change “Look in” to “Local Disk C” > Click on “When was it modified” and “specify the date” you downloaded the file > Click “Search”.  You will see all files created / modified on the given date – you should be able to see the file you downloaded and the path to the file.  You might be able to launch it by double clicking it, otherwise navigate to it through Windows Explorer.  If all else fails, AVG anti-virus 7.1.385 is on the DVD that comes with Computer Buyer July edition along with some other useful stuff – if you’ve only got dial up, it might be worthwhile buying a PC mag every few months.

Nick, This may help you:  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/oetopten.mspx

Hi Steph1,  All digital cordless phones give you an intercom facility, i.e. you can phone from handset to another.  You can also answer a call on one handset and transfer the call to another.  Most will also allow you to have a “conference call”, (2 extensions sharing a call).  The recording of the date and time of messages is generally referred to “time / date stamping” [of messages].  I’ve had a quick look on the Panasonic.fr website and they refer to it as “Annonce de la date et heure du message”, for example on their KX-TCD320FRT model http://www.panasonic.fr/servlet/PB/menu/1210389_l3/index.html  A lot DECT phones offer similar features.  I’d suggest you give consideration to what particular features you need, for example, handsfree; the ability to plug an earpiece (like on a mobile phone); how many minutes of recording time the answering machine has (important if you anticipate a lot of messages); user-recordable outgoing message; phonebook size.  Some have the answering machine buttons on the main unit, with others you have to use the handset to play messages back.  Then have a look at what’s available in the big supermarkets – you’ll usually find details of the features on the boxes of the products.  I’ve had several Panasonic cordless phones over the last 15 years and always found them to be reliable.

Hi Bob, Has this worked OK in the past?  Are you using the same brand or format (+ or -) of DVD?  Or are you using an “RW” disc when in the past you have used an “R” (or vice versa)?  One of my PC’s seems to be rather fussy about recording on certain brands of DVD. You should have a couple of options available to you to burn your pictures onto DVDs – ie, selecting the files in Windows Explorer and then “File > Copy to DVD” or you will have software like “Sonic RecordNow” etc for making CDs / DVDs.  Does it make any difference which programme / method you use to record your DVDs? In theory, I don’t think any of the above should make a difference ….. but sometimes computers don’t always work they way they should!  Your “home made DVDs” should at least work on the machine they were created on. In case you’ve deleted the pictures from your hard drive, you should be able to copy them onto your wife’s computer and then make a CD / DVD on her machine to move them back to your own.  Alternatively, can you make a copy of the DVD on her PC and try that copy on your own? Just as well you’ve got 2 PCs in the house!

Grant, TomTom have announced today that they are to launch a new range of Sat Nav models in April – maybe there will be further price reductions on the old ones?  There’s some info on the new models here:  http://www.tomtom.com/news/category.php?ID=4&NID=235&Language=1&TT=d1asg86c5t9m2vts1jnhrbegn1  

Grant, There was a thread about Sat Nav this time last year – you might want to have a look at http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/572384/ShowPost.aspx Prices have come down about 25% since last year and there are more brands to choose from which is helping to drive prices down. Most Sat Navs are only supplied with the street level map SD card for the country in which you buy the unit.  If you want the street level maps for another country you have to buy another card for around £70. I’ve been using TomTom for about 2 years and found it to be very easy to use.  I’ve also tried a Navman iCN 635 and find the TomTom user interface easier to use although I prefer the styling of Navman. I’d suggest you have a look at the TomTom Go 700, this now sells for about £400 and gives you street level mapping of all of Europe on a built-in hard drive.  The 700 would be better value than a 300 or 500 with an extra map.  The unit also doubles as a Bluetooth handsfree car kit.  More information - http://www.tomtom.com/index.php?Language=1  

Clair,  The networks customise the software on their mobiles so that phones work out of the box with their services like picture messaging, voicemail, internet, etc.  If you get a mobile unlocked, the original network’s settings will still be there – like the “Virgin” splash screen on power up – these settings are determined by the software, not the SIM card.  Your ex-Virgin phone cannot display the “NRJ” name as the network did not exist at the time the phone was made and is therefore not programmed into the software – the “208-13” relates to the frequency the phone works on.  If you put an Orange or SFR SIM in the phone it would probably display “Orange / SFR ” as these networks have been around for many years.  The divert and other menu options in your phone are configured to work on Virgin UK, again because of the network customised software.  If you do want to set up “no answer divert” (to voicemail or another number) etc, there will be another way of doing this – for example with O2, you can key “**61*(901 for voicemail)#” followed by “send”.  You may be able to get the NRJ commands from their website or a dealer selling NRJ SIMs.  Phones which are sold “SIM free” have not been customised by the networks and are therefore easier to set up for use with different SIMs – unfortunately it is more expensive to buy a mobile this way.

Rozi,  If you haven’t used your UK mobile abroad before, you should contact your network to make sure your number is set up for “international roaming”.

AB, Check that the scart lead is properly connected at both ends.  Do you have another TV – if so, I’d suggest you try connecting your DVD to it.  If the problem is still evident it proves the DVD is at fault. As others have said, it’s probably not worth spending money on a repair, especially if the laser is faulty.  You could try a laser cleaner. DVD players, in common with anything which is “digital” get better and cheaper all the time.  Just look at how the price of digital cameras, LCD TVs etc have plummeted in the last couple of years. VHS is now living on borrowed time.  You might want to consider buying a DVD recorder – this should allow you to record French TV through the inbuilt tuner (if you buy a French one) and UK TV from your Sky box connected by a scart lead.

If you already had an e-mail address set up in Express and you said “Yes” to the make Outlook your default e-mail programme I think it should have automatically imported the email address(es) and settings you had in Express. To check this, open Outlook and then select "Tools | E-mail Accounts… | View or change E-Mail Accounts". (If you only have an option to “add” an email account, your email address details need to be set up – click on the “Next” button and follow the prompts and fill in the required info.) Take the option to “view or change existing email accounts”.  Click on the name of your e-mail address and select “Change”. You now need to check that the correct information is in the relevant boxes.  I cant be specific as it will vary according to internet service provider.  The information you require will be in the equivalent set up field in Express.   Click on “More Settings…” and make sure the settings are correct in the “Connection” tab.  (Click OK to close the “More Settings” window). You can now use the “Test Account Settings” button to test if it works.