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Quite why this glass/coating isn't in use on LCD screens right now, I have no idea.

On "Hard Glass" LCD screens as used in schools and industrial locations to avoid breakage, the front sheet of glass is often AR coated - I use one like this http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/47556/Iiyama-17-inch-P1705S-Hard-Glass-Monitor-4-3/at work and there's no problem with glare or reflections, and good contrast like a glossy.

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

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)

They're what appears to be a really big shop with a lot of interesting (read cheap) taiwanese gear you can't really find elsewhere (at that price).
But! If that comes at the price of their customer support, people ougth to think twice before ordering from them: When everything's fine, you get yourself a bargain. If everything is not fine and dandy, then you have a problem.

Yes they screwed me before on two occasions (I sent the AGP card back and got the PCI I ordered, but I could've done without the hassle), but they've been fine on many other occasions.

What does it, is when they start accusing me of trying to con them out of a couple of quid, instead of looking at their record to try and sort out their mess.

Record of bad support == stay away.

A shop with good support? Microdirect (at least for me, here in the UK).

I bought one of them athlon shuttles and the samsung memory I bought with it just wouldn't work. I tried two sticks, then another two and each time memtest86 failed.
What do the microdirect guys ask me to do? They ask me to bring the shuttle, then one of their employees tested sticks with memtest86 until he found two that worked. He then sent the whole batch back to samsung as faulty but that's not the point :-)

The point is, it wasn't my fault if Samsung sent them faulty sticks, was it? They didn't say I was trying to con them, did they? Nope, they were professional and even though they are more expensive than ebuyer (not always) I will shop with them because I can always pop down to the shop and find someone who will listen to me. If they screwed-up, they'll fix it.

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

Why aren't the 240T's with, say, eight dead pixels sold at a different price?

I guess it's because the standard doesn't have enough break points in it. More or less everything is sold as class II. If the manufacturers agreed on a IIa standard, that might allow them to differentiate a bit. Otherwise, it probably complicates things too much: what if one pixel more fails when you get it home, or within warranty?

Well, TechTV's Kevin Rose has put CD-ROM sized PCs in Mac 5.25" bays, but that's not quite the easy access to the PC you're looking for.

There's also the i-Tee case from LOPE Computer Co., Ltd. DeviantPC has a review. So far, I only know of SpecialTech and Micro Direct offering them for sale, and they aren't in the US. I'd love to know where to get one this side of the pond. (Directron lists it as a future product.)

The i-Tee has been reported on Slashdot before.

• PC Chips Aladdin motherboard, with 32MB TNT2 VGA, Sound, 10/100 NIC and 56K modem on board: £46
  
• Intel Celeron 633: £30
  
• 128MB PC133 RAM: £8
  
• Mitsumi 1.44MB FDD: £8
  
• 15GB Maxtor HDD: £52
  
• Delta 52x CD-ROM: £21
  
• 15" Hyundai monitor: £76
  
• Midi tower case: £19
  
• PS2 Keyboard: £4.50
  
• Genius PS2 Mouse: £3
  
• CPU Fan: £3
  

Sub $400 enough for ya?