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http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel+Core+i7+(2011)/i7-3960X?productId=47179

Almost all laptop power bricks use switching transformers - it means they don;t have to make a specific model for each country they sell the laptop in. Even my UK-spec iMac, which was never designed to travel runs just fine on US or UK power - it'll run on anything between 110 and 250V and 50 or 60Hz.

Apple's brick has a standard figure 8 connector (albeit with a fancy Apple-design slide-and-clip if you use the plug block or one of their official cables) so you can use a standard figure 8 flex cord with it here in the UK - if you have to travel back here, just buy one at duty free, it'll cost you about £2 - no need to buy an official Apple power cable for it.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Peripherals/Cabling/Power/Power+Lead+(Figure+8+Connector)+UK+3pin+?productId=58 - these plug right into Apple's power bricks.

overclockers are quite good, I managed to get the best pair of headphones I've ever had from there (Razer Barracuda)
I also use http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ http://www.aria.co.uk/ and http://www.scan.co.uk/
as these are close to the Manchester Area in the UK

You can buy a bunch of usb dongles, usb 2.0 pci adapters, and some duct tape, you can build a kick ass freenas server.

This also applies to low end desktops that are still far more powerful than PCs a few years ago - even in the UK which often has overpriced components, you can build a PC yourself for £100 (including delivery and tax, no monitor/keyboard/mouse) = $200 US. A recent PC magazine spec'ed this out and the 'premium' version was only $240 - and at this price point Windows XP OEM is £50 or so, a 50% increase, compared to Ubuntu/Kubuntu which works very nicely in just 512MB. If you are cutting specs to the bone you can run Xubuntu (XFCE) in 256 MB quite nicely.

Or you can buy pre-built systems for around $250, which also don't include Windows for the same reason: http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Arianet+Value+AMD+Starter+?productId=31454 is about $250 US including delivery and tax, and there are other models that cost a bit more.

Savvy consumers are the real threat here - once people realise they can get PCs for almost nothing that are fine for Internet use (not video editing or 3D apps), there's far more price pressure on Windows and Office. Naturally Microsoft will cut their prices enormously, but there'll be resistance to doing this as much as they need to, which should help Linux on such systems.

and yes, comparably equipped PCs and Macs are comparably priced when you don't build it yourself

did anyone else think it ironic that while your reading the above
"The future is Blu" flash advertisement pops up just beneath

I think the "Blu" way is definitely dominating over here in the UK
one look in hmv or the virgin stores in Manchester and there are more blu than brown cases on the shelves by a long way (over here some HD DVD cases appear to be brown instead of red for some reason)
not to mention the can of worms they opened up with Transformers

Looking at some current PC internal drives at the moment quite a lot appear to be dual format for reading
but most are writable only for BD

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/productlister.aspx?n=2,11,78
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CD%2FDVD+Drives/HD%2FDVD+BluRay/?p=cF9zdHlsZT1saXN0JnBfcHJvZHVjdHNQZXJQYWdlPSY=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=10&subid=314 - BDR drives
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=558&subid=1022 - HD DVD media still in stock
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=558&subid=1023 - BDR media sold out

I've yet to see a HD DVD writer (reader yes, writer no)

in short it's pretty much a no brainer at the moment
personally I'm waiting for the drives to mature a bit more first before getting one
I remember going through the whole "dual layer" writing thing with DVD's in just the same way
(Pioneer will probably have it all sorted sometime around April I'd guess)

aria
http://www.aria.co.uk/
they have always been a safe bet for me they will even have it next day if you order it fast enough in the morning without the nextday option

I get mine in the UK from Aria Technology [ http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductsList.asp?Submit=sear ch&Category=2 ], called 'Pull Out ATA66/100/133 Bay with Fan'. Price, £6.76

I want an MP3 player...
1. Cheap.
2. No proprietary formats required.
3. No "DRM."
4. Reliable, built to last, long battery life.
5. Connects to my machine without drivers, i.e. acts like an external hard disk.

Aria "own-brand" - £43 for "500MB", £89 for "1GB" seem to work quite nicely. Just copy MP3s onto it like a flash drive, single AAA battery lasts forever, nice easy user-interface on the player itself.

Much better than the crap that comes out of Creative Labs, for example. Anyone want a Creative Nomad Zen 80GB that only works on Windows?

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductsList.asp?Name=cd+cas e

It is basically a large metal case, quite hard to destroy and has single inserts for each disc.

I would highly recommend it, I have many friends who use these for when they are doing dj'ing at clubs to take their music collection on the road.

Kind regards

Don't throw away those "almost perfect" CPUs! Give them to needy people in the third world!"

Give them to the people who bought LCD screens even after the manufacturers admitted they were likely to be defective.

Those in Northern Ireland will know that the biggest problem for us is pp charges. To help with this i've compiled a wee list of shops and charges usually for something small and light like an ethernet card. Sorry if any of it is wrong - if so please contact the site and let them know that they need to make it clearer.

• CCL Computers Online 10 extra. 3.95 for small order 7.50 large all + VAT
• Insight Direct 19.99
• MicroWarehouse claim they don't ship outside uk mainland
• SavaStore 15 + VAT extra
• Scan Computers UK citylink so expensive - they quote 7 + VAT for non-NI will contact you for exact pricing
• Simply Computers 12.95 + VAT
• Overclockers UK 3.48 + VAT 2nd class recorded
• ebuyer 15 surcharge on NI p&p
• Komplett.co.uk approx 10 p&p
• aria .co. uk 11.95 + VAT for under 8KG
• Novatech 15 extra p&p
• Kustom PCs
• Tekheads.co.uk RM Recorded from 2.85
• mini-itx.com 8 - 12 +VAT
• LinITX.com 2.39 recorded or 6.05 next day special (+ VAT i think)
• TheCoolingShop.com free delivery on orders over 4 but under 2KG - over 2KG = 20
• PC Nextday 17.61 inc. VAT next day
• Leapfrog Computers Ltd 6.90 + VAT
• Chillblast 1.18 inc VAT recorded 5.29 special
• Stuff-uk.net under 100g 3.75, under 500g 4.05, under 1KG 5.25, under 3KG 6.60, large over 1KG 10.50, all + VAT
• CaseTech.co.uk from 2.95 based on weight for 3-4 day courier. guess + VAT
• Crucial UK over 25 free p&p. under 25 2.95
• Over-Clock UK from 1.42 2nd class post to 4.59 citylink
• Micro Direct Ltd. 17.63 inc. VAT
• Carrera SSC 64 for complete system
• MESH Computers 20 inc. VAT
• dabs.com 5.88 inc. VAT extra

The good prices aren't at the expense of service - I've never had a late or incomplete delivery yet.

My only minor proviso is that Aria tends to be low on stocks of memory; I buy it from source via Crucial Europe instead, who are also very reliable.