Distant Parts

Just a quick update on my Oppo 981HD.

I’m still impressed with its general playback quality, but I have run into a significant issue. It really doesn’t like playing back DVDs recorded by my old Panasonic HS2 DVD Recorder. Its deinterlacing capabilities fail it, and there are some juddering issues.

Although there’s nothing mentioned on the Oppo site about the 981HD having any issues, I suspect it must be the same issue refered to in the FAQ for the 971H.

Not a major problem for me, but it’s worth considering if you are planning on buying an Oppo, and were planning to play back a lot of your own recordings.

A quick recommendation: fitness-equipment-clearance.co.uk

Yes, the domain name is overly long, but I ordered an exercise bike for my brother just before Christmas, and was delighted with the service. It was £150 delivered with a free mat, whereas John Lewis were advertising the same bike for £349.

Although the equipment is refurbished, it was pretty much as new. The manual was missing, but a quick phone call resulted in a spare manual being posted out.

Prices have risen since I bought the bike before Christmas, but it’s still much better value than buying new.

I found this excellent video of my favourite stretch of road - the A686 over Hartside in Cumbria. I’ve got some very fond memories of slicing across the moors on this road, in both my old Civic Type-R and current Golf GTI.

I’m rather enjoying ArithmeTick at the moment. It’s a free Windows Mobile game, which involves performing mental arithmetic against the clock. Very similar to one of the tasks in Brain Training on the Nintendo DS. Very simple, but surprisingly good fun when you’ve got a couple of minutes to kill.