The Alchemist

Yeah.......I've known this firm and its senior management for almost 8 years now and enjoyed a very satisfactory relationship with them.

Originally I was introduced to them by colleagues at work who they've been dealing with since the mid 1990s and who were impressed with the advice and service that they'd received.

I've dealt with them in matters of Thai and Australian tax and pension advice, employer benefits scheme stock advice and also I have a number of investment portfolios with them, the oldest of which has increased by 108% in 6 years and the one that I most recently added a further investment to earlier this year has been going since 2004 and has averaged over 13% per year. The tax and financial planning advice has also been satisfactory and I remain very confident in their in-house and external expertise.

I haven't dealt with their insurance, accounting or legal divisions but I have only heard good reports about these, but other than that I can't really comment on those.

Hope this helps.

Not sure about the Pantip price...but I was in the Apple authorised dealer called iStudio last weekend and 160GB classic and 16GB Touch are both selling for 14,590 Baht (about US$460). Or you go for the new version of Touch with extra software applications for an additional cost of 700 Baht. If you are a vistor you can claim back most of the 7% VAT but that would still be more expensive than what you were quoted elsewhere

When did you buy your Wii? I was in Japan last month and also brought a Wii back with me. It's now being modified by a shop I always use in MBK but the bad news is that the recent models like mine require a different type of Modchip that is closer to Bht 2500 in cost. (GCorners shop at Victory Monument comfirmed similar cost).

But it's OK as the total cost (6500 baht for Wii in Japan + 2500 mod cost) is still cheaper than buying the ones available here in Bangkok (circa 11,000 baht)

Hope this helps.

Have the Sony Ericson SC83 EDGE aircard. Like many others who've reported problems on internet with this design ,the antenna tip is broken and no longer connects with the socket in the card = no signal!

Seems a waste to spend another 12,000 baht on a new card when it's just the cheap antenna that's broken. After investigating via Google seems many have got around the problem by soldering the existing antenna or even a flexible wire onto the circuit board where the antenna socket connects.

I've seen there are 100's of shops in MBK that repair phones. Am assuming they could easily manage (have already pulled the card apart and it's easy to access the connection point). But was wondering if anyone has done this or similar type of repair &/or any shop in Bangkok (prefer MBK or Pantip area) that they can recommend?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

838 pro = HTC Hermes........seems it is also known as the HTC TyTN (pronounced Titan). No wonder it is hard to find My AIS rep is also confused. Tried to tell me that it won't work in Thailand as it is only a 3G CDMA phone. Have sent them the address for their website to clarify that it is also a quad band GSM phone........may have to abandon this option and reconsider the Nokia N95

they had dopod but not the 838 pro

I asked my company to try and get that model for me from AIS (we have a large corporate account and they provide phones as part of the package). Was told that the 838pro is no longer available in Thailand from the Dopod distributor - something about a new model about to be released. But there must be some stocks hiding out there in smaller shops? As you say it's hard to find them and any shop I found that sells Dopod didn't have the 838pro model. Really wanted a 3G model as I travel frequently to Japan and the closest model (I think called D810) doesn't have the slide out keyboard :-(

Am using an ADSL broadband connection through a SMC router/wifi modem. The standard set-up is that my Windows PC is linked direct by ethernet cable direct to the router and my Macmini is linked by Wifi. All works smoothly and rarely have any issues with internet connection dropping out.

But I have an issue when I use Wifi to connect my office laptop to the Internet. At first all is well but within what feels like 5-10min, the internet connection (for all 3 computers) suddenly drops out. Only way to ix is to re-set the modem. My hunch is that this might somehow be related to the VPN that I need to use for connection to my office network. Is this possible? Or any other things I should investigate?

Lannig: thanks for the advice. After some searching I eventually found the MMC and changed the Display settings in a file called gpedit in my windows\system 32 folder. But alas, no impact. So must be in the Windows domain settings.

Britmaveric: thanks for that new option. I'll give it a go tonight.

My company just "upgraded" my Laptop and the new version has the Windows Wallpaper & Screensaver facilities locked i.e. cannot display wallpaper (all the options are greyed) and likewise with the Screensaver options.

I already asked my IT dept to unlock but they said it is the new policy - something about security...

I seem to have at least limited Admin rights as I can install most software but I can't find an obvious way to re-enable those options. Presumably somewhere in the Registry?

Or does anyone know some standalone software that I can install that will automatically run a screenshow of my favourite pictures if I haven't used the laptop for 10 minutes (I have Picassa but seems that only works if I manually run the slideshow option)

Appreciate any tips or advice.

Had a quick look through previous modem / Wifi threads and couldn't find anything similar...apologies if I missed anything.

At the moment I have the CsLoxinfo ADSL (512/256) package with the standard USB (Billion?) modem.

Have already bought an SMC ADSL modem / router / WiFi combined unit with aim to (i) improve secrity via it's internal firewall (only rely on Zone alarm software firewall at present) (ii) allow me to use WiFi link to my laptop.

But one important question before I go through the install & configuration process. Currently, I have to "log-on" to CSloxinfo via my current desktop computer (i.e. the one that the USB modem is currently connected to) using the software they included with the modem.

If I change to the above mentioned Ethernet based /Wifi modem, does this mean that to use my laptop elsewhere in the apartment , I will first have to start up my main PC and connect to Cslox?

If anyone has been through similar upgrade process I would appreciate any advice / reassurance you can give.

Thanks.

Already have an iPAQ 3970 and can "pull" email from my server with bluetooth/GPRS link via my mobile phone. Works well enough.

But advantage of the Blackberry devices is that it's a "push" system. i.e. as long as you are in a GSM network area (including most countries o'seas) it automatically pushes all your email onto your device - just like being connected to the server in the office.

Have been looking into the option of getting a BlackBerry device to more easily access/track/reply to email when not in the office.

Have checked the official BlackBerry site and seems that within Asia they are only supported in Australia, Singapore, HK & Philippines. Also checked with a friend that has a BlackBerry and he said he had to run his from Singapore as none of the local carriers (e.g. AIS / DTAC / etc) can support it.

Is this true? e.g. can I just buy a BlackBerry, install an AIS SIM card in the device then setup the email connection? (I've never used one before so apologies if my logic is totally wrong)

If not, does anyone know why they are not supported in Thailand?

Have been using SCBEasy for past 2 years and very happy with the system. Great for paying bills and they quickly notify if I accidentally choose wrong payee,etc. The International funds transfer system excellent (albeit you have to apply first via a written form and can only nominate one overseas account)