piston broke

as someone who lives in North Pattaya and travels down Beach Road most days...i have only praise for the work that's been done. Journey times to get into town have dropped and the look of beach promenade is a great improvement.

Well done, i say !

just one cornetto ??

Thanks for the warning PP and the PM.

I guess the last few posts sum up most forums, you get some real interesting posts, and some really good advice. In my case some very good advice, and some very appreciated posts of support and encouragement. Then you get, luckily in a minority, the few very negative and spiteful posts. Suggesting I met my wife in a bar? You don't know me, or where I go, so why write something like that.

Then a post from Mr Worldwide, over 1,800 posts but you write such utter rubbish !!

For me its simple, I was in a bad relationship, went through real crap when I moved away. I moved here to Pattaya knowing 2 people. Just over a year on I have a great circle of friends, I live in a beautiful complex and have a real chilled out lifestyle. I am at my most happiest time of my life. As I mentioned before, I have a beautiful and kind woman in my life. I feel like I won the lottery when I met her.

I say thanks again to all the members who have liked my posts, and members who have been positive in they're reply's. I hope it may help other members who find themselves in similar circumstances. I have gone from rock bottom. to the top. I have just come back from a couple of hours on a lovely beach ... Sun was out and the sea was warm ... Still in February ... Stopped at a local restaurant and had one of my favorite dishes, Pad Thai talay .. Aroi mak mak ... 50 baht .. My wife will come home from work soon and cook a lovely meal for tonight ... So to the negative members .. Write what you like, it really just doesn't matter ...

Well done Essex Man for having the balls to stand up there and be counted.

You seem to have pulled yourself up by your bootstraps and have made the best of what you came over with.

Your lady looks an absolute delight.

.....Here's Jimmy's cleaner playing her version of "Rock n Roll"........

by 'eck she's brilliant !

That's got to be the best version i think i've ever heard.

she can come round and do my cleaning any time.

Piston broke: Your machine isn't that old and the ATI HD 5450 is a decent graphics card. The power supply is the device inside the computer that converts your AC current into DC current to run your motherboard and peripherals (cards, drives, etc). If the original graphics card in your machine required less juice than your 5450, it may be that Compaq just put a 300 watt power supply in the machine. Depending on what you have in the machine, you may need a 400-500 watt PS now. Without seeing your machine personall!y, I can't diagnose exactly what is causing your video problem but in the HPs and Compaqs I've owned in the past, the first thing to break was the power supply. HP (which makes Compaq machines) uses cheap power supplies. It wouldn't hurt to have a local shop test your power supply and also calculate how many watts of power your machine needs to run without strain. It's good to have some overhead of around 100 W. Regarding Windows 7, you're going to have to bite the bullet before long. When you get around to it, it would be good to backup all of your data files and do a fresh installation of Windows 7. You'll need to reinstall all of your programs, but a computer shop could do that for you. I don't remember the exact date but Microsoft will stop supporting XP before long. You need to have an OS for which regular updates will be available. I don't recommend Windows 8 at the present time. Good luck!

blimey this is starting to get complicated !

i'm going to try and see if i can get a teccie to swing by and see if they can shed some light on it......

Well, with the TV settings and the splitter being eliminated as the cause of the banding and gray box on your picture, that seems to leave the ATI video card as the source of the problem. Is your PC rather old? What is the model number of your ATI graphics card? How big is your power supply? Could you borrow a different ATI card somewhere and try it in your machine? I wonder if XP Pro might be getting too outdated. MS and probably most developers will discontinue their support of XP soon!

thanks for your reply No 1....

Reply as follows:

its a Compaq desktop, just coming up to 4 years old.

my graphics card was replaced recently as the original one's fan gave up the ghost and the guy in the shop changed the whole card.....it now has an ATI Radeon HD5450 (according to the CCC that is)......

can't really borrow another card - would be too scared to open the back of the computer, in case it broke !

i did think of upgrading to windows 7 when the computer guy changed the card...his attitude was if it ain't broke.....also he said that it wasn't an upgrade - you had to take off all the files etc then re-install once Windows 7 up an running....my fear was that with all the faffing round, there would be loads of problems (far greater than my shading problem).....

power supply ? - the computer is plugged into the mains via a surge protector....

hope someone can shed a light (lol) on my shading problem...

I used to have an underscan problem on my plasma screen but rather than use the scaling option I just created a slightly different custom screen size in CCC which worked fine.

Piston, have you tried KittenKong's other alternative, setting CCC back to default and then setting a custom screen size (custom resolution)?

tried all options....the default is the best, but problem still there.....

the second TV is used mainly to Thai TV.....but when the second tv is put on with signal from the computer, there is still the shading and the shading isn't just round the edges...

It may also be something to do with your HDMI splitter box. Could you connect the PC directly to the the screen to test that?

tried direct connection, still the same......

Since your TV is a plasma, the shading will probably be burn in from the previous black border.

Normally your tv will have a setting where you can " white wash ": the screen, and the shading will disappear.

If you have used the black border for an extended time, something like several months, on an older model plasma, there is a risk that the burn in is permanent

This seems quite likely.

One quick test would be to connect a stand-alone DVD player or similar, or tune the TV to a regular TV channel. Or even play a media file from a USB drive if the TV supports this. If the shading is still visible with these sources then it will indeed be screen burn.

Thanks for your response KK....

my set up is (1 bed condo)...the computer output goes via HDMI into a powered HDMI splitter box, one output then goes into the main TV (Samsung 51 inch), the other ouptut goes into the bedroom to a 42 inch samsung [lasma TV)....

the second TV is used mainly to Thai TV.....but when the second tv is put on with signal from the computer, there is still the shading and the shading isn't just round the edges...

so my conclusion is that its the signal from the computer rather than the TVs.....

the shading really has come since the CCC was installed....

Have you tried Googling "samsung tv ati catalyst problems" and looking at the top ten or so results?

no...........

Try adjusting the TV picture size from your TV's remote control. T Have you installed the latest drivers for it?

tried adjusting and latest drivers - no joy...

Had a similar issue connecting my laptop to my Samsung, had to fiddle with a combination of the laptop 50/60hz setting and the Samsung on-screen menu display setting/options.

I think the shadow may be overscan. Try returning that scaling to normal and see if another setting adjusts size/position.

if i adjust the scaling - the shading goes, but the black line returns.....so back to square one.....

This might be an artifact generated by the display screen.

Is this a TV, or a Monitor?

What HDMI resolution are you using?

What resolutions do the TV/Monitor support?

Sometimes getting a correct picture and aspect ratio is a combination of setting the PC and using the TV/Monitor onscreen settings

1280 x 720, yes samsung hd plasma tv....

Hi Everyone,

I have my PC (running XP Professional) connected to my 51 inch Samsung TV via HDMI lead.....

i was getting a 1/4 inch black line round the picture, so i installed the ATI CCC and adjusted the scaling, which solved the problem - the signal from the computer now fills the entire screen - BUT, there is now 1/4 inch of shading round the edge of the screen - i can see the picture below, but its pretty annoying having the shading

Any ideas how to get rid of the shading ??

thanks in advance.

You can apply for the visa exempt entry to be converted to a Non "O" visa . You must have evidence of ability to meet the financial requirements of the "retirement extension" of stay.

If successful in your application for "conversion" an extension of stay can be applied for --- subject to meeting the financial reqirements.

where do you go to get it converted ( living near pattaya ) ?

can you leave it a couple of days before expiry ?

If you arrive in Thailand by land, and obtain the 30 day visa exempt stamp (uk passport holder, age 50 plus)....

During those 30 days, can one go to the local immigration office and apply for a retirement extension ? or would you have to leave Thailand and go to an adjoining country and apply for an O visa based on retirement, then convert to a retirement visa after returning ?

Any advice / help greatly appreciated...

three letters:

PCX

Rim Talay on the shore at the end of Soi Naklua 16 - great sunsets, tables on the beach, and pretty good food.

soi 18, not 16......

Busted.

Where can I buy some mirrored sunglasses?

now't wrong with oggling....

i had one of these, in mars red (from new)....

golf gti 1800 with rlr2000 engine conversion, zender body kit and wheels.....

was ultra quick in its day.....

http://www.vw-one.co.uk/GTI%20Engine.htm

happy days.....

10.1 for me - lubberly jubberly.....

Nope. I live on Soi Naklua 16, right on the beach. Within 500 meters of my building, there are at least three spots where moto taxis and taxis congregate, 6 convenience stores, likely close to 20 restaurants, ranging from a local where a plate of kao pad gai and a beer can be had for 75 baht to the very upscale restaurants in the Pullman, the Centara (a little farther away), with a range of cuisines - Thai, Russian, Korean, seafood, etc. Best Supermarket is a 30 baht moto ride to Dolphin Circle. The Pattaya Nua bus station is 50 baht by moto, or 100 baht by taxi.

As I pointed out earlier I dont get on motorbikes here. Nor would I ever consider taking a taxi (with or without meter). I use only three methods of transport locally: my feet, my car and the bahtbus on regular routes. Being innately idle I like to live somewhere where I can find just about everything I need within 5 minutes walk, or a short walk to a bahtbus that will take me there for 10B. I can do this easily from the Jomtien Complex area but I could not do it in Wong Amat.

From my condo within 5 minutes I can walk to:

hundreds of extremely varied international and local restaurants

a proper Thai night food market

Immigration

the Post Office

the beach

the bus to the airport (with connections to Bangkok)

many bars, massage parlours etc

a gym

all other shops, language schools, dentists, doctors, car rentals, etc

at least 10 convenience stores and a medium-sized supermarket

the bahtbus direct to Tesco Lotus and Theprasit night market (10B)

the bahtbus direct to Pattaya (10B)

Jomtien doesnt have any top hotels with restaurants but of course on nearby Pratumnak there are several. To my mind this is about the only arena in which Wong Amat scores over Jomtien.

I do know the area you mention and apart from the distance to other facilities I find the choice of restaurants in the immediate area to be much too limited for my taste. Each to his own though.

so jomtienski's the winner then ?

Personally I dont like Wong Amat. To me it seems to have no character at all and is just a jungle of high rise buildings and narrow sois filled with traffic. You have to walk up to the main Naklua road to find any transport or places to eat, though once there you have a decent choice of course.

So personally I prefer Jomtien which is more open, has shops, farang restaurants, bars and Thai markets and eating places all over including right on the beach road. Also transport back to south Pattaya is very easy (apart from the evening traffic jams entering Pattaya of course). For 15K/month there you can get a nice studio unit right on the beach though at this time of year a lot of the best ones will have gone or may be asking higher prices.

As for getting to Bangkok it depends on how you travel. I live a few minutes walk from the main airport bus terminal in Jomtien and I can get an hourly bus from there to the airport and then take the express train to Bangkok (not that I do it very often as I dont like Bangkok). All pretty quick and cheap and painless. The only traffic I have to get through that way is on Sukumvit in Pattaya.

Nope. I live on Soi Naklua 16, right on the beach. Within 500 meters of my building, there are at least three spots where moto taxis and taxis congregate, 6 convenience stores, likely close to 20 restaurants, ranging from a local where a plate of kao pad gai and a beer can be had for 75 baht to the very upscale restaurants in the Pullman, the Centara (a little farther away), with a range of cuisines - Thai, Russian, Korean, seafood, etc. Best Supermarket is a 30 baht moto ride to Dolphin Circle. The Pattaya Nua bus station is 50 baht by moto, or 100 baht by taxi.

naklua's the winner then ?

and I don't like the styling of the common PCX.

it's common, cuz its the best by a country mile..........

there you go.....

sorted...