Talking B____X

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Damn! And I thought nobody had noticed... :lol:
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Not even sure I should post this because I know some might think I'm some extremist or something (which I'm not), but...

FFS, I spent a day in London and it was - I kid thee not - unusual to hear English spoken. Even by shop staff, it would seem, where it was OK to deal with a product related request (like single or double expresso) but a no go as far as 'chat' or 'banter' were concerned. In God's name. It really is like Bladerunner isn't it?! And I got accosted by a generic African official who insisted in a decidedly incoherent manner that I move my car - it wasn't even mine FFS! I'd come in by train and I was merely standing next to it. A Mercedes - not even a Citroën: I ask you!!! :lol:

I am NOT happy the way things have turned out since I left London 16 years ago. Would I go back? Would I f........................
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Hey! We've just bought a TV off eBay just in time for Xmas! 42" Sony Gran Wega LCD (DLP - rear projection) TV (impressive stuff back in 2003/4 apparently) for £128.

It all works and is in top order condition-wise. Talk about disposable society.

That's Xmas sorted. lol!
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

For those of us who are contemplating a dash to France in the Spring, this isn't good: 1 UK Pound = 1.0671 Euro (EUR) but it's a tad better than the rate during the BXagon. Interestingly it cost Team Philibusters just less than £1,000 per week (pro rata) for everything; Accommodation, food, drink, parts (including Citroen brake pads!), crossing, insurances, tolls, diesel, museum entry and communications etc... very close to my estimate, and, given the exchange rate, not bad at all.

Would I do it again? Yes, with certain changes: First I don't like F1 hotels so I'd rejig the routes accordingly. I hated the way the Hotels were more often than not tricky to find (almost damned impossible a couple of times) so that too would influence the planning. I don't think we were sorted enough with our 'lunch on the move' - it could've been more of a feature - especially given some of the landscape we were in. Having to 'keep in touch' with 'home' and send mini-reports and photographs was OK, but in the end it was a bind.

And that's about it. I don't think we could've done it any quicker without introducing a stage or two of well over 450 miles. On non-péage that would've been a grind.

So, would I do it again? OK, that should be 'Could' I do it again, and that's more complicated: not for a few years...
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MULLEY
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2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
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Post by MULLEY »

Phil, does your new telly use a single bulb or the old fashioned 3 bulb system? If its anything like a mates, his was a mega expensive (think it was SIM Audio) Digital rear projection tv, his single bulb would only last a year & would cost him £500 not including fitting, i wonder why he sold it :wink: That was a £6k telly when new, he bought it ex-display for £2.5k, but adding in a couple of bulbs over a short period of time, erm, nooooooooooooooooo
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

The telly is DLP LCD rear projection. The bulb was replaced in the last 18 months but the telly hasn't been used much in the last year. A replacement bulb is an easy DIY fit (I did some research) and will cost £100-120 on eBay (e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0155608441 ). The bulbs can last over 60,000 hours - but even if it was half that, that's over a year of normal viewing. And the telly cost £1,200 in 2004.

I'll let you know how it works out - I pick it up tomorrow (after seeing it working). And if it costs me another £105 in the next six months, that's still only a total of £233... not too bad.

http://support.sony-europe.com/tv/rpj/r ... KF-42SX300
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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

60,000 hours or 6,000 (as the eBay seller wrote)?

Cheers for the certificate by the way!
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Over-exuberant use of the keyboard! I knew it was 6000 hours #-o , so seeing as we might watch it for ten hours a day (3,650 hrs say) that's not too bad.
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MULLEY
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My Cars: 1999 Xsara LX 2.0HDI (90) Hatch - Fern
2002 C5 2.0 HDI (110) Estate - Jasmine - SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
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Post by MULLEY »

Hmm, so lets assume the worst, a new bulb every year, you keep the telly for 5 years, you could have virtually bought a nice shiny new 40+ sized modern telly, not exactly a bargain perhaps? :cry: If its only every couple of years, thats not so bad, as long as the bulbs are available & dont shoot up in price :x Fingers crossed it works out as a good buy, but at least you did some research rather than finding out the hard way like my mate :lol:
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

I only intend to keep it 6-12 months. I want a 42" LCD/LED but can't afford it just yet. I thought this'd be a cheap-ish way of finding out if I like the size in our room! :D (And our 32" CRT's on its last legs).
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docchevron
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Post by docchevron »

That bulb would last me forever then.
Ten hours a day? :shock:

I dont watch ten hours of telly a month!
Smokes lots, because enough's enough already!

Far too many BX's, a bus, an ambulance a few trucks, not enough time and never enough cash...
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Well, I do have two kids and I like movies! OK, 8.5 hours then... :lol:
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Have to wait until next week. The (really nice and genuine - a bit posh TBH) bloke hadn't used it for three months - it's been under a dust sheet, started it up - it flickered a bit so he called the deal off, and then pressed the reset button and all is perfect, but he's insisted he run it for a week @ 4 hours a day and if it remains fine he'll sell it to me with a few quid off for messing me about. Can't say fairer than that... so jury's still out as to whether it's a good TV or a lemon.
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MULLEY
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My Cars: 1999 Xsara LX 2.0HDI (90) Hatch - Fern
2002 C5 2.0 HDI (110) Estate - Jasmine - SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
x 8

Post by MULLEY »

Decent of him to even point out there might be a problem, fingers crossed its find & you get a nice large telly.

Must admit, i'm used to my 42 inch Toshiba Rear Projection telly, so if i go round anyone else's, with their puny sized tellys, i just cant watch them as i'm used to the cinema sized one's :lol:

Just a shame mine isnt hd compatable, otherwise i'd be running dolby digital 7.1 along with blue ray & sky+hd. I'm still impressed with the quality of my current telly though, must be 6yrs old & not had a problem touch wood. Ok, picture quality isnt up there with the plasma's & decent lcd's, having said that its still better than the majority of modern telly's which seem to alway look a bit bitty to my eye's & being a bit too sharply focused so as to show artefacts in the image & also the colours seem artificially bright as well.

Phil, a decent upgrade for you telly is to purchase a decent powercord, really clears up any noise that might be present on the screen, sharper focus, less blurring & colours seem better defined, oh & better sound as well. I tend to use russ andrews, but have quite a few others such as campaign audio design, amongst others. Have a look on e-bay for some 2nd hand one's :D If in doubt, russ andrews do a send it back if your not happy policy, i think they start at £35 which isnt bad.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

That's interesting. Does that apply to Hi Fi equipment too?
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