MG Rover Cars, Rover collapse, MG future

Uh oh – Rover are in trouble and it looks as if the receivers will be soon anouncing the details, and it doesn’t look good.

Having a nice new MG is great, but finding that the warranty may not be honoured is, quite frankly, a worry. I am hoping that there will be some late moves from the government to support the Rover group, but at such a sensitive time, close to the general election, nothing can be taken for granted.

Willl the dealerships get together on any of this? Will another car firm buy out the ailing Rover group? Will MG survive as a marque?

I’d be interested in your views.

DVD@ccess, activating URLs from a DVD, using DVD@ccess

Launching a URL, be it web based or file based, from a DVD adds to the overall experience that DVD authors can provide the viewers. On the Mac platform, the software which handles this and is built in to Mac OSX is called DVD@ccess. The alternative is called Interactual Player, and is far more prevalent on the windows platform.

Authoring discs on a Mac using DVD Studio Pro is a rewarding experience, but adding URL links and getting them to work on a PC is not. DVD@ccess is, at best, flaky when run on a PC – not that the software is unstable at all, more that it is totally unreliable. You cannot accurately predict whether the PC viewer will get the URLs launched in the way that you want them to.

It seems that some DVD Players on the PC, and some operating systems are more compatible than others.

I’m starting a list of those that do and don’t seem to work – so far more don’t than do! Please add your experiences here as well.

What doesn’t seem to work:

OS Software player
Win XP Pro Power DVD Player 6
Win XP Pro Windows media player 9
Win XP Pro Video Lan Client

Sat Nav, Alpine INA-N333RRS, single DIN sat nav unit, UK prices, EU Prices

I’ve been thinking for a while about getting a sat nav unit in my car, but really haven’t wanted to spend the money – they always seem so expensive for what they are.

This was reinforced for me when I visited my local ICE centre (usually pretty good) and asked for info about the Alpine INA-N333RRS unit.

Apparently, they could sell it to me for ��1500.00 but I would also need a CAN-BUS, and would probably also want a fascia adapter. Naturally, since these Alpine units can do it, I would also want an iPod adapter (I’m really happy with my Dension, but the Alpine unit is far better). All of this, plus fitting and calibration, would total about ��2000.

So I did some searching around the Internet and found that in Germany the exact same unit is sold for �Ǩ975 – or approximately ��677. Even if there is sales tax to add on, it would have to go some to even come close to the price I was quoted.

The German site is http://www.caraudio-versand.de/shop.pl?action=art&id=111185 and they seem pretty clued up about this stuff. You’ll note that the ‘RRS’ model has red illumination and this would match the colour of all the other dials, etc in my car. The German site also sells CAN-BUS adapters and fascia plates for well below the UK prices. I also found that they were cheaper in France and Spain, too.

So what gives?

Ultimately, the shop in Germany is to the west of Munich, and I can see myself driving over to there to get this fitted. A journey of less than 600 miles one way (about the same as from here to Glasgow) and through some pretty stunning countryside too – Black Forest, near the northern Alps… it could make an excellent three day break!

The best bit would be that with the sat nav fitted I would be able to get back without being lost!

In all I would save nearly ��1000 which would more than cover fuel, accommodation and food for such a trip.

So why are we made to pay such inflated prices in the UK?

Soft top motoring, Essex pubs worth a visit

It must be summer – or at least spring… we took the hard top off the MG today and drove with the hood down for the first time since it was bought.

And as we drove we found ourselves heading into central Essex and a small village called ‘North End’. It was whilst heading through there that we saw the ‘Butcher’s Arms’ pub (listed here) and stopped for lunch. It is a family pub and has a nice atmosphere and some pretty good food – nothing astonishing, but good service, friendly and serves food later than most. We got there at about 2pm expecting to be turned away, only to find they are still serving until about 3.30 usually. That’s good, because I prefer a later lunch! Out of a possible 2000 or so pubs in Essex to visit, this one is worth the trip.

Anyway, good pub, sunny day, nice food and a soft top car all combine to make a happy Saturday!