jeffer

Saw a Toshiba for something like 120k at the big IT store on the top floor of Panthip a while ago but I don't know that there is a big demand in Thailand for laptops over 100k let alone approaching 200k. Hardware House sometimes have HP's costing over 100k. You could always try the Sony retail shop as Sony have never been shy about charging high prices for their products

Dell do have the M6300 on their Thai website. Have you tried giving them a call? Otherwise if you can afford 200k for a laptop then order one from Singapore and go and collect it when it's ready.

You're setting up a gaming rig yet the components you are thinking of cutting back on are the video card and the monitor? Surely they're the last items to cut back on. Why wouldn't you prune the sound card and settle for a cheaper but still well featured motherboard. Just curious.

Adding this all up comes to around: B 54000 As this is a little more than I want to spend, where would be places that cuts could be made without drastically effecting performance?

Don't buy a soundcard until after you have heard the onboard sound first.

Have you factored in the price of some speakers? If not then 2000 baht would be my starting point but sound is always very subjective.

400w power supply might be all you need for your suggested set up.

Check the features of the motherboard carefully to be sure you are not paying for features you will never use if you aren't planning on overclocking.

E8400 is thought to be value for money in every review I have seen.

File Renamer - Basic

The full story is on page 8 of the Daily Express Saturday April 5, 2008. I couldn't see a link to it on the newspaper website so you will need to direct any further questions to CIB Commissioner Lt. General Adisorn Nonsee as the usual photo of suspects with heads bowed at the police press conference only reveals some ID cards, a pair of handcuffs, a police badge and a walkie talkie laid out on the table in front of them.

72k?

Saw that Samsung model at the IT Show in Singapore last month for only $1949 SD (45k baht).

Time for a holiday maybe?

Easy to find in Sim Lim Square, Fuwell stock it but it will be slightly more expensive than the IT Show price. If you want to save some money then you get a 28" Viewsonic for only $1299.

Cheapest Samsung 22" I saw was on the last day of the IT Show, only $389 (9k baht).

14,700 baht will get you a 24" Philips in Singapore, looked great, almost bought a couple myself.

From todays Daily Express...

Three men have been arrested for posing as policemen and stealing valuables from passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The men claimed they were senior police officers from the Crime Supression Division. They originally took away bags with contents worth an emperors ransom... or 2 million baht, from a man and his friends after they arrived at the airport on February 3. On Thursday the man, Jamlong Laemthongthai, saw one of the fake policemen again at the airport and contacted police who arrested him and found a fake police ID card. Police then found his fellow conmen and arrested them.

CIB Commissioner Lt. Genereal Adisorn Nonsee advises people to contact uniformed police before giving valuables to anyone, including those who show them something like a police ID card.

You're a supermod so get George to cancel their advert unless they sell you the books you want. however not all readers of this website live in Thailand.

You're better off without a Thai credit card. Low limits and questionable security reflected in rejection by some overseas companies when trying to pay online is one reason why I continue to keep all my overseas cards active. Helps me sleep better at nights knowing if someone uses my card then I won't be expected to pay for things i never signed for.

I usually vote with my feet these days at most places that want to charge excessive fees because I am not Thai. I'm sure the ticket seller couldn't care less but neither do I any more. As for national parks I've seen most worth seeing years ago and it's not as if Thailand has a monopoly on scenic attractions. Plenty of other nice places I can visit all over the world that don't demand silly fees like 400 baht for some minor waterfall that you have to walk along pathways strewn with rubbish to get to. If the money was spent on the upkeep of these places it wouldn't be so bad but it isn't.

If the cards you want to use are debit cards then maybe that could be the problem.

What cards do they accept; Visa, Mastercard, American Express? If they accept those then they probably don't think they are missing out on too many customers.

Not too many small places come with grass out my way, more likely tiles or concrete. One of the easiest ways to add value to a place is to lay down some tiles over any outside concrete, quickly lifts the look of a place for only a small investment.

For a rental place then you need to get yourself down to the local market and find the places selling earthenware pots and pot plants. Half a dozen medium size pots or those wooden rectangular containers that hold some herbs, some plants, some small statue type things, arrange them around the entrance or just outside the fence and you have another inexpensive upgrade. Just take a look at what the neighbours on your side of the street have first so you can see what will survive best in the heat and be guided by how they place their plants. Some plants and pots shouldn't cost you more than 2000 baht, well worth it.

I use Skype a lot in Thailand, mostly Skype Out. It works okay but sometimes it can be poor quality but that's internet in Thailand for you, whichever company you deal with. I really notice the difference when using Skype overseas in Europe or the US because the quality of the line is always much better. If you are using a connection slower than 1MB it helps if you have only Skype using your internet connection e.g. no downloading in the background, no news sites and RSS programs, no anti-virus updating. Even with a 256 ADSL connection I've found Skype passable 99% of the time but if you are using an internet connection where it always seem to take forever to load overseas websites then you will probably have problems using Skype.

Like the title says.

Anyone have a recommendation for one in Bangkok, close to a skytrain or subway station would be nice. The one I've used for the past few years has moved on.

Get out of of the big cities a bit and it can be surprising what a few thousand per month rent can get you. I had a spare million and seeing how the interest rates on offer were so poor I ended up buying a house that sounds similar, spent 100 thousand sprucing it up with some fresh paint, new tiles, new cupboards, a bit of plumbing and electrical work and I have to say it doesn't look bad at all. One thing you can usually say about Thai people is that when it comes to moving they have to be some of the most helpful people around, all for the price of a good feed and some liquid refreshments

Smashing up your car to get a mention in the media... Been done a few times now, might be expecting a bit much for the media to get involved again as it's no longer the novelty it once was.

I had a long period of frustration trying to work out why none of my UPS would work with an Enermax PSU. It didn't matter what brand or size UPS we used, whenever we pulled the plug the result would be a series of rapid clicks followed by a beep and then the computer would reboot. No one could come up with an answer until someone decided to take it and test it at an office that used a couple of very expensive Power King UPS models for their servers (TSW). It worked fine. Later we found on the Enermax website that you need to use a true sine wave UPS with their APFC power supplies. I've heard this may no longer be the case with the latest models but reading what Greenside wrote, his experience sounded exactly like what happened to us, and we tried a lot of other things besides to try and get things working. Ended up buying a new cheaper PSU and it worked with our UPS as soon as we hooked it up.

From what I can tell no one ever mentions anything about problems using some of these good quality power supplies with a UPS in any review because most of the reviews are from the US or countries where it's rare to have power failures, certainly not like the daily ones you get in many parts of Thailand so it's a non issue for most people. People might use a surge protector but not many use a UPS for a home computer when their power might fail only once a year. When I searched for information I kept finding that people would say it should work but that they only used a UPS for their computer at work and invariably they would be ones with TSW (usually the APC Smart series) because a business is prepared to spend the extra money it costs to have such a UPS. Even in Thailand, how many people use even a simple UPS for their home computer? I've seen very few despite the dozens on sale in some of the big IT shops. A business will use them but home users here don't seem to bother.

To answer your question about if you need a true sine wave UPS then it's hard to find a definitive answer. Tywais says his Coolermaster models work so it's not a problem for all PFC power supplies. Try what I suggested and see if you can get things to work with a different UPS. You should be able to plug in a fully charged UPS to a computer and have it work as soon as you test it so if you can't with a different brand then I think you need to look at what I'm suggesting as the reason why. Asus have a forum so try posting there and see what you can find out. Asus may not even make their own PSUs, could be rebranded like some companies do, I don't know.

The APC plugs will not be a problem. At worst you might have to buy a couple of plug adaptors cosing 20 baht.

If anyone wants to buy an Enermax 400w modular PSU in very good condition for 2000 baht then let me know because it's back sitting in the original carton as it's no use to me when it can only work with a UPS that costs almost as much as my computer

Simple test. Try using any other brand of UPS and see if it works when you pull the plug. You would have to have been very unlucky to have two faulty ones before but anything is possible.

If it still doesn't work then get hold of a APC Smart UPS or a Power King that uses a true sine wave and test with that. If it works then you probably have your answer. You can either buy one (they're not cheap) or simply get a new PSU that will work with a budget UPS. Unless your work is mission critical then buying a true sine wave UPS for home use isn't a worthwhile option for most people due to the cost.

Tywais, out of those 100 computers you are running, how many have a PSU with Active PFC and what brand are they? I'd usually expect to find PSUs with APFC in computers built for gaming and/or low noise rather than in a business environment.

Does anyone know of a place where you can buy a reconditioned APC Smart UPS in Bangkok? You can in the US but I've never seen them for sale in Bangkok, even in Pantip.

I've only been to KL LCCT once, and it was a while ago but I'm sure there is an information counter there, next to the domestic check-in counters. I don't know how anyone could miss it. Maybe there was a problem with the air-conditioning when you were there but I know I would remember if there wasn't any at all, how could there not be in a place like KL?.

Turning up at the airport and booking a ticket only six hours before your visa expires sounds a risky thing to do anyway. You're just not allowing yourself very much leeway in case of a problem. I wouldn't be so sure that booking a ticket on Thai at short notice like that is going to be cheaper. The times I've had to buy a ticket at an airport ticket counter at short notice have always meant the ticket price was expensive.

For the price I pay I still fly Air Asia. Tiger and JetStar are more reliable with their departure times so I use them more often but when AA have great prices like 3000 baht total for Bangkok-Jakarta return booked 5 weeks in advance then I will still use them. At that price I'm not going to complain too much if they are running late and they usually are. I have no complaints about the staff. At the prices I usually pay I don't expect to be waited on hand and foot and the check in staff have always been fine, no complaints from me but a lot of the complaints I see relate to people who get upset when they are made to pay for having luggage that exceeds the free allowance so I imagine the check in staff are dealing with some annoyed customers even if it's the customers fault for not bothering to read the conditions when they book.

If you want to use a UPS with your Asus PSU then you need a true sine wave UPS.

If you can think of anything I overlooked please tell me.

Take a look at the specs for your Asus power supply. Do you see 'Active PFC' mentioned anywhere?

So? Still doesn't change the fact that Suvarnabhumi still struggles to get things right two years down the track. If you want to draw comparisons between Suvarnabhumi and other new shopping malls then you should try comparing it to KLIA, Singapore T3, Hong Kong. I think most people would rate Suva number 4 in that group.

Just a thought, Thaksin goes to live in England and now another new airport has problems... hmmm

Did you sign a contract for a fixed term and were you trying to end it before the term finished? Mine was paid monthly after the first six months. Maybe if it's short notice then they only give cash refunds so you have to go to the office and prove you really are leaving the country? Like I said, mine was easily fixed and the cheque turned up in the mail about a month later.

I was expecting them to try and get me to stay subscribed but when I said I wanted to cancel they didn't even ask why. All they wanted was to fax a copy of my passport and make an appointment for the dish etc. to be collected. Faxing a copy of my passport is something I've been asked by Thai companies before whenever I've wanted to change an address, have a pay per view channel added or suspend a subscription, that's the way things are done here it seems.

I really don't have time to watch much tv. To watch live sport meant a 2000 baht UBC package so it wasn't worth it. Almost everywhere in Thailand has a local cable service for cheaper. If you live in an apartment building then most Thais use some local cable service with a bunch of channels for a couple of hundred baht, they don't or can't pay 2000 baht to watch UBC. The one I have now is only 300 baht a month and is good enough for me but might not be for someone with a big plasma who watches a lot of tv and wants plenty of English language channels. I know some people don't think much of UBC but if you just want to be able to turn on the tv without playing round with codes and setting up satellite dishes then compared to the alternatives it isn't so bad, just too expensive.

Cancelled mine a few months ago. Sent them a fax to confirm and received a cheque in the mail about a month later. All it took was one quick phonecall to make an appointment for the equipment to be collected and it was, a week later.

Give them another call and ask why they can't send you a cheque. I've always found their customer phone service helpful whenever I've dealt with them.

I am moving this to the Travel forum for those who are thinking of travelling to China for the Olympics.

//MOVED//

Why??? Do you think anyone contemplating going to the Olympics isn't already aware of the Tibet situation?