This isn't a complaint about my new computer ... which seems to be functioning quite well now that I have properly installed Windows 10 and managed to transfer all my files and contacts over from my old computer. This blog entry is all to do with the integral DVD player that forms part of our TV, which decided to start doing all sorts of odd things when I tried to use it to watch a DVD last night.
To tell the truth the integral DVD player has not worked properly for some time, but in the past regular cleaning of the laser lens seemed to cure the problem of it 'jumping' from one scene to another without warning. Last night this did not cure the problem, and after persisting for nearly thirty minutes I gave up trying to watch the DVD of CHILD 44. (I read and enjoyed the book when it was first published, and although the film was panned by the critics when it came out earlier this year, I found a copy of the DVD on sale for £5.00 and bought it.)
This morning Sue and I went to a local shopping centre, and whilst we were there I bought a cheap Sony DVD player. (The player and the requisite scart lead cost less than £30.00, which was a lot cheaper than I had expected.) When we got back home I connected the new DVD player to our TV, and it worked almost at once without any problems or complications!
Hopefully I will now be able to watch CHILD 44 without whole chunks of the film being missed.
Isn't technology wonderful ... when it works.
To tell the truth the integral DVD player has not worked properly for some time, but in the past regular cleaning of the laser lens seemed to cure the problem of it 'jumping' from one scene to another without warning. Last night this did not cure the problem, and after persisting for nearly thirty minutes I gave up trying to watch the DVD of CHILD 44. (I read and enjoyed the book when it was first published, and although the film was panned by the critics when it came out earlier this year, I found a copy of the DVD on sale for £5.00 and bought it.)
This morning Sue and I went to a local shopping centre, and whilst we were there I bought a cheap Sony DVD player. (The player and the requisite scart lead cost less than £30.00, which was a lot cheaper than I had expected.) When we got back home I connected the new DVD player to our TV, and it worked almost at once without any problems or complications!
Hopefully I will now be able to watch CHILD 44 without whole chunks of the film being missed.
Isn't technology wonderful ... when it works.
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Technology is good when it works, for sure!
ReplyDeleteWith the trend towards watching video on-demand, demand for DVD players and the cost for such a device have plummeted in the USA. DVD players are practically free.
Jonathan Freitag,
ReplyDeleteAlthough we have cable TV, Sue and I have never watched any films on demand as the cost has always seemed to be disproportionally high compared to the cost of buying a DVD. Admittedly it does mean that we have to wait a couple of months before the DVD is released and we can watch a film that has been available on-line for some time, but the wait is usually worth it.
I had not realised how cheap DVD players had become! As I own quite a substantial number of DVDs, the new DVD player will get plenty of use.
All the best,
Bob
Since you've already acquired a solution, this is rather a case of me closing the stable door after the horse has already bolted. However, I nonetheless would like to suggest a free program called VLC, which should turn up on a Google of those initials. I have a few American DVDs, which I cannot watch on my laptop's DVD system, nor on anything else. However, I can watch them on the laptop if I open them with VLC. It's a nifty little system.
ReplyDeletePeter Ball,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for that very useful tip. I sometimes like to watch DVDs on my PC or laptop, and knowing that there is a program that will allow me to watch non-European DVDs.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob, I can't understand why my tablet won't let me access and use the camera? It is frustrating because I like to record our games. Any ideas why its not working?
ReplyDeleteLinking the two parts of your post, technology can be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand it is increasingly making us more isolated from the rest of humanity.
Never have individuals had so many "friends" and comparatavely so few acquaintances. It is much easier to get angry with someone you never have to see face to face. It is now possible to viloently execute people from thousands of miles away almost at the toich of a button, and to show the execution to a hungry public worldwide.
And I too thought Dr Who had a timely message.
Well put Bob.
PS please excuse the typos. New proof-reader required.
ReplyDeleteMike Saunders,
ReplyDeleteI own an iPad, and the camera is very simple to use. I just select the camera icon on the start-up screen, and as long as I remember not to put my finger over the lens, what the camera is aimed at appears onscreen. Pressing the button next to the screen takes the photo.
I am not sure how other tablets work, but I would expect that they operate in a similar way.
All the best,
Bob
Whiskers,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! As you have written in your comment, Internet 'friends' are not really friends if we have never met them, spent time with them, or talked to them.
I was once told that a true friend is someone who you might not see for years, but when you do you just pick up your relationship as if you had only seen them yesterday.
The speech from that episode of DOCTOR WHO has been quoted by several other bloggers as well, and the general feedback to it has been very positive.
All the best,
Bob
Whiskers,
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologise; I have spellchecker enabled on my PC and iPad and still manage to type rubbish all the time!
All the best,
Bob