FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 018 (13/08/96)

FAREWELL JOYCE

I’ve had my present computer -- an Amstrad 8256 ‘Joyce’  -- since 1985. Now I’m considering buying an IBM-compatible PC. Do you know of any books or publications that can bring me up to speed on current jargon and terminology, so I can make an informed decision about what features and facilities I really need. The magazines I’ve looked at all seem to assume a great deal of prior knowledge.

T.J.P., Tunbridge Wells

A

Perhaps you’ve been looking at the wrong magazines. There are several titles aimed at newcomers to the PC market, such as What PC, PC Guide and Practical PC, which regularly cover the basics in considerable depth. Some of the books aimed at beginners can be rather patronising, and they tend to go out of date quite quickly. Moreover, for obvious reasons they cannot go in to much detail when it comes to prices and specifications. Nevertheless, Easy PC by Suzanne Weixel (£22.99) is worth a look, so too are The Complete Idiots Guide to PC, (£13.95) and PCs for Dummies (£18.00). They’re available from good bookshops and specialist retailers like PC World.

CAFE SOCIETY

For some time now I’ve wanted to have access to the Internet, but unfortunately the price of a PC is prohibitive. I was therefore interested to see an article in The Daily Telegraph, that mentioned the growing number of ‘cyber cafes’ up and down the country. I haven’t been able to track any of them down, could you publish a list?

D.E.L., Milton Keynes

A

We could, but it would take up rather more space than we have available. There are now more than 60 Cyber Cafes and bars in the UK, and several hundred world-wide, with more springing up almost every day. They all offer relatively low-cost access to the Internet and on-line services, hopefully in a friendly atmosphere, with experts on hand to help you out. Your nearest one is Cyber, in Bedford, at 2 Ram Yard, just off Bedford High Street, telephone (01234) 349990. They charge £2.50 an hour (£2.00 for students) and are open from 11am to 9pm Monday to Saturday, 3pm to 7pm Sundays. When you get there you can find out more about the other Cyber cafes in your area, and around the world  from:

http://www.cyberiacafe.net/cyberia/

guide/cccafe_uk.htm

. Don’t worry, you’ll quickly get the hang of it.

If you get hooked it may work out cheaper for you to get your own PC. It’s probably not be as expensive as you think, you don’t need the latest high-speed multi-media models to surf the net. Perfectly capable 386 and 486 machines, with a modem, can be found in magazines like Micro Mart for less than £300. The only other costs are the subscriptions to a service provider, typically £6 to £15 a month, plus the cost of local calls while you’re on-line. You’ll also save a fortune on food and refreshments.

UP TO SCRATCH

Three times last month my car was scratched by vandals whilst it was parked outside my house. I would like to use my camcorder, to keep watch on the vehicle and catch the little swine’s on tape. Is there any way I can rig it up to record when the car is being interfered with as the cassettes only last for 90 minutes?

S.L.D.,

A

A lot of camcorders have an LP recording mode, which doubles recording time, though 3-hours is probably still not enough. One solution might be to use your camcorder as a surveillance camera, and record the activity on a homedeck VCR. You need to connect them together using the AV copying lead, that should have been supplied with your machine. You might need to buy an extension cable if the camcorder and VCR are more than a metre or two apart, they’re available from most video stockists for a few pounds. A 4-hour VHS tape (E-240), will give you up to 8 hours recording time when you use the VCR’s LP recording speed. You will need to set the camcorder to record or ‘camera’ mode and power it from the mains adaptor/charger. You might find the machine’s battery-saving facility switches it off after a few minutes. On a lot of camcorders this can be overridden by leaving the tape loading hatch open.