RimBlock

HDMI will not be in the quote unless you specifically ask for it. I would just get form somewhere like Amazon TBH. Electrical work will be quoted to your specification. Prices soon add up though and I paid 2K with adding very few new sockets and using the existing wiring (change all trunking / sockets) as our wiring is buried in coving on the ceiling and we didn't need to have it removed (save cash). We had to bargain hard as they wanted 3K to start with. Our 3 room old apartment was 3K for a complete re-do of the electricals but we added quite a few sockets here, there and everywhere . I would put aside at least 3K for electrical work..... more if you want network points and speaker cable runs. Depends on the ID company if they include the sanitary ware as our first reno did but we had to top up to get what we really wanted but our current one didn't, was cheaper but we had to budget 3K+ for the sinks, toilets and showers and that was for fairly standard stuff, nothing particularly expensive / fancy at all. Check what is listed in the quote very carefully. If it lists supply and fitting of toilet doors then the cost is all included. If that is missing, then you will have to add on. If in doubt ask, never assume. It is also worth asking to see catalogues you can choose from so you know the quality level. You may be able to source better locally like we did for our bedroom doors. RB

Sorry, they were not specific recommendation for you particularly, just a quick not on what I found when out and about. Having just got new cabinet for the movies and cds I find that it is already more or less full . To this end I think I will be selling some of my DVDs. S$5/movie (all original local or region 2 - UK). Around 180 to choose from. Let me know if anyone is interested and I will send a list (when I put it together). May just make enough to pay for the new center and / or sub . RB

The q acoustics site do not mention a 1013i only a 1010i or a 1030i. Reviews I have come across when looking only mention the 1010i or the 1030i as well. Have not seen any info on a model 1013i. Saying that, companies sometimes release models for specific markets and give them new names / model numbers and so they are hard to find info on.. RB

I have asked about the possibility of a subforum for Sound and Vision as this thread seems to be taking most questions on its own. So far no response from Admin or The Rat. Hopefully when they are not too busy they may be willing to help set it up if possible. Might make it a bit easier with so many wide ranging questions in one thread. RB

Popped in to Cash Converters in Tampines this morning and found; Kef Cresta 3s - S$129 (probably about right price wise for SH) - reasonable condition although didn't check the cones as the grills were on. One plastic tab stuck in the top of the banana plug connectors but should be fairly easy to remove. An example of what they look like are in this link (this is not where I saw them) or from the Kef site here (choose late 1990s -> Cresta -> Cresta 3). Mordant Short 5.30 - S$129 (IIRC). Bit battered and the looks are ...... distinctive . Interestingly the most info I have found on them is from Vietnamese forums. The Crestas would be tempting to me if I was starting of a system at a budget. RB

Can only see reviews for the 1010i or the 1030i. RB

If no-one else in your block or the surrounding blocks have had it done then it is unlikely to get approved I would guess. Changes to the external look of the building are usually rejected. Give HDB a quick call as they are usually guite helpful. RB

Take a look at my T-Blog as I estimate mine will finish around 46K all in (electical and sanitary ware included) so it should give you an idea. Just a point of note, two compressors is against HDB rules although there are some in my block in Tampines which also have two installed. Just something to be aware of if you were not already. RB

I have Madagascar 2, Cars, 'The Polar Express, Kung Fu Panda, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc, Despicable Me, How to train your dragon , Up, Ledgends of the Guardians, Megamind, Planet 51, Shrek the Third, The Penguins of Madagascar ep1 tv series and Animatrix. I like the Pixar stuff but not so much in to the classic Disney cartoons. I still want to get some others like Meet the Robinsons (Bowler Hat Guy is just such a fantastic bumbling bad guy) and The Incredibles. They are on the two for S$60 in laserfair at the moment for a lot of them. Not sure if they are cheaper in Amazon or the like. Not such a big fan of the Toy Story series or Wall-E. Finding Nemo was ok and so was A bugs life but not must gets for me. List for computer animated movies here for anyone trying to remember. RB

Yep, prepare for that to change. I have forgotten how many times I have now watched Cars (fantastic movie) or The Polar Express (not a fav of mine at all) or Hotwheels Accelerators..... My son used to watch Cars every night. He loves cars and trains so also love The Polar Express and will now talk along with the movie. He also now likes Dora and Little Einsteins. One good thing about Singapore is the ability to get VCDs for the kids which are much cheaper than the DVDs. The kids don't mind the quality difference and they are easy to put on the NAS so if the discs fail due to being pushed along the floor face down by the kids it is no big issue . RB

After weeks of making it clear we needed some storage for the DVDs, CDs and Bluray discs and after looking around neighbourhood places, Ikea, Courts and a few others we still could not find what we could agree on. We wanted a sideboard type unit to sit behind the sofa, under the projector so it would be hidden by the sofa. The doors would have to be sliding and it would have to be on a budget. Most units had normal swing open doors if we found one at the right height or were pretty expensive. We finally decided to get a unit to fit on the balcony. I measured the space as 7ft (h) x 3.5ft (w). This leaves some room for the curtain and window there. The unit we bought from V-Hive is 7ft by 3.9ft. We are looking forward to delivery this Friday and are just hoping the extra I allowed for the curtains is enough . If not we will have to find somewhere else to put it. My wife wants to keep the living room uncluttered with furniture so we can enjoy the extra space after living in a 3 room HDB for 3 years. I can understand this but we need storage for the kids toys and some other junk we have collected along the way. I also need to do a big clearout of the remaining boxes to see what we no longer need to keep. My older son has the chance to go to New Zealand with the school for an 8 day exchange program. We would then host a kid from New Zealand in October. Great chance for him but another 1.8k out of the account. RB

Nope, the amp can upscale I believe. The lamp is rated for 4,000 hours. When it starts to deteriorate is anyones guess at this stage. I am probably coming up to 200 hours but use Theatre Black (for dark rooms) most of the time. Just to clarify, the top two shorts are from bluray and not TV RB

Speaker and projector screen current setup. <img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b23/RimBlock/OCUK/Projector%20photos/IMAG0014.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b23/RimBlock/OCUK/Projector%20photos/IMAG0013.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> RB

A couple of projector image pics; Tidy speaker cables running them through the speaker stands.

Ok, my mistake, it is 10mm, not 4mm

Ahh, nope as it was only transmitted in 2010. Maybe I will be a proxy sorted out so I can use the BBC Iplayer and stream from the UK . Good way to get Top Gear if you don't have Starhub and don't want to wait for torrents. I hear the BBC are going to make available an international fee based iPlayer. not seen any confirmation though. RB

Thick glass. Can be seen in the pics I have posted of the master bedroom toilet. RB

I have watched a couple of the older films but never really got in to them. This is the first one I really liked but you have to remember the technology available to tell the story was distinctly lacking compared to today. A friend of mine got very upset when rumours started that Sherlock Holmes would be gay in the movie. He is an avid fan. He also gets wound up when we suggest that Tintin is a bit dodgy travelling around the world, a young boy with an old sailor and a girls dog. The Thompson twins are very suspect too with their Hitler moustaches . All for jest but some people take these things very seriously. Luckily he is a good sport.... RB

We will keep an eye on it in the short term but the hinges grip the glass rather than go through it so I suspect it just slipped a little. My youngest also is not as careful opening and closing it so it sometimes bangs on the half wall between the shower and sink. we will be getting a buffer for that. RB

I loved Sherlock even with an American in the lead role . But I like Robert Downey Jr in just about all of his recent stuff. Kickass is great. So politically incorrect and not what I expected at all. The 'getting used to being shot' scene was fantastic. If you loved that then go see Zombieland. Both films are very much of the same style. I will put up a list later but I know I brought around 300 dvds to Singapore 4 years ago and must have bought around 100 more since then so I will leave those out . RB

Yeah, that is not a bad idea although our old glass shower wall/door went for 3 years with no issues. Yep I imagine the alan key bolts were not as tight as they could have been. All sorted now. Our glass is probably around 4mm thick from memory so pretty strong thank goodness. RB

Our first big issue with the work. My wife and youngest were taking a shower when they heard a loud crack coming from the shower door on trying to open it upon finishing. Shouts for me to come help brought me upstairs and got me trying to work out what was happening. The door was resisting being opened after a certain point and on investigation the bottom hinge had slipped so the door glass did not have enough clearance to rotate beyond the glass wall of the shower area. I got them to move in to the far side of the cubical away from the door and slowly tried to ease the door open whilst pulling the bottom out. The little piece of glass wall was also moving under the pressure and then there was a loud cracking noise. To our relief, the two piece of glass cleared each other (like two continental plates slipping and causing an earthquake). Both of the pieces of glass remained in tact. Lessons learnt..... 1. We have proper thick tempered glass so make sure you have a good thickness and don't scrimp. 2. If it happened again I would in future get some heavy towels / blankets / duvet for them to cover up in. If the glass did go then it would offer them quite a bit of protection. Protection then correction..... The glass guy came and readjusted the door yesterday and it is all fine now. Oh and my wife thinks her L.V. bag has been stolen along with all our passports. I suspect she left them at her mums for security whilst the renovation is going on. RB

Oh and I got a new phone finally... My HTC HD2 broke when I dropped it 5ft onto a concrete floor so I finaly got this -> HTC Incredible S. Pretty happy so far. Finally installed Angry Birds and now my 3 year old is fighting with me to fire the birds at the piggies . A bit easier to take casual update shots too. RB

I already have Batman Dark Knight and War of the Worlds coming :-). There US$10 or below and US$15 and below sometimes have some good bargains . RB

Amazon RB