A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double bank 
of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and 
they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of minutes 
all printers, scanners etc switch off.

Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
where I bought them.
Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
archives)

Al

"alan harvey"  wrote in message 
news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

>A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double bank 
>of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and 
>they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of minutes 
>all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>
> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
> where I bought them.
> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
> archives)
>
> Al


Hi Al,

I think I know the one you mean, but I can't remember the brand name of it, 
it had one black socket and 5 other ones, when the black one was powered off 
it powered down the rest of the sockets....

However, I did a quick search on eBay and found something that does the same 
specifically for PCs
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6-Gang-Surge-Protector-USB-Power-Saving-Extension-Lead_W0QQitemZ5805772659QQcategoryZ42321QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
by plugging a USB cable from the PC to the extension lead and when tyhe USB 
power goes off, it cuts the power to the rest of the bank of plugs.
Much cheaper than the one I was thinking about originally; I might even 
splash out and get a couple myself :-)

Hope that helps,
Alex

"alan harvey"  wrote in message 
news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

>A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double bank 
>of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and 
>they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of minutes 
>all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>
> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
> where I bought them.
> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
> archives)


Be careful if you have an Epson printer (and maybe other brands), as if the 
power is just cut (rather then the power button being pressed) you can 
corrupt the chip on the cartridge, this results in the printer thinking it 
is empty even if it is actually full!

Sparks...

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 23:24:23 GMT, "alan harvey"
 wrote:


>A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double bank 
>of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and 
>they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of minutes 
>all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>
>Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
>where I bought them.
>Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
>archives)
>
>Al 
>

We got a  oneclick made one , and we got one from B&Q a month or 2
ago..

"alan harvey"  wrote in message
news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

> A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double
bank
> of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and
> they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of
minutes
> all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>
> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find
> where I bought them.
> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old
> archives)


http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt.consumers.uk-discounts.and.bargains?hl=en
will let you search the group

or http://groups.google.co.uk for any other group.

Steven.

alan harvey wrote:

> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
> archives)


Funnily enough, just saw an ad for these power strips not 10 minutes ago 
in the Lakeland catalogue.  www.lakeland.co.uk, product ref 1614, cost 
24.95.  (No idea how expensive this is compared to B&Q etc...)

-- 
Tony

Sparks wrote:

> "alan harvey"  wrote in message
> news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>> A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension
>> (double bank of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I
>> purchased 2 of these and they are great - you switch the computer
>> off and within a couple of minutes all printers, scanners etc switch
>> off. Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't
>> find where I bought them.
>> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18
>> month? old archives)
>
> Be careful if you have an Epson printer (and maybe other brands), as
> if the power is just cut (rather then the power button being pressed)
> you can corrupt the chip on the cartridge, this results in the
> printer thinking it is empty even if it is actually full!
>
> Sparks...


I hadn't heard about the chip problem but I thought there eas a problem that 
the print heads don't "park" properly and that can lead to the ink drying 
out and clogging the print heads. Printers really should be turned off on 
the printer itself and not simply by cutting the mains supply.

On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 08:38:26 +0100, "Tiny Tim"  wrote:



>I hadn't heard about the chip problem but I thought there eas a problem that 
>the print heads don't "park" properly and that can lead to the ink drying 
>out and clogging the print heads. 


The head usually parks automatically on power fail.  However, the
problem with Epson (and possibly others) is that they remember the
time since last use and adjust their automatic head cleaning cycle
accordingly.  If you unplug them they lose this data and do a full
clean cycle at next power on.  This uses a lot of ink and reduces the
cartridge life considerably.

-- 
Peter Parry.   
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

~Alex~ wrote:

> "alan harvey"  wrote in message
> news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

>
> However, I did a quick search on eBay and found something that does the 
> same
> specifically for PCs
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6-Gang-Surge-Protector-USB-Power-Saving-Extension-Lead_W0QQitemZ5805772659QQcategoryZ42321QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
> by plugging a USB cable from the PC to the extension lead and when tyhe 
> USB
> power goes off, it cuts the power to the rest of the bank of plugs.
> Much cheaper than the one I was thinking about originally; I might even
> splash out and get a couple myself :-)
>
> Hope that helps,
> Alex


Be wary, i bought a few dozen for resale, and they are not particularly 
reliable in operation.

Gaz

In article , gazter@msn.com says...

> ~Alex~ wrote:
> > "alan harvey"  wrote in message
> > news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> 
> >
> > However, I did a quick search on eBay and found something that does the 
> > same
> > specifically for PCs
> > http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6-Gang-Surge-Protector-USB-Power-Saving-Extension-Lead_W0QQitemZ5805772659QQcategoryZ42321QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
> > by plugging a USB cable from the PC to the extension lead and when tyhe 
> > USB
> > power goes off, it cuts the power to the rest of the bank of plugs.
> > Much cheaper than the one I was thinking about originally; I might even
> > splash out and get a couple myself :-)
> >
> > Hope that helps,
> > Alex
> 
> Be wary, i bought a few dozen for resale, and they are not particularly 
> reliable in operation.
> 
> Gaz 
> 
> 
> 

Hi Gaz

What turned out to be the problem with them?

>>I hadn't heard about the chip problem but I thought there eas a problem 
>>that
>>the print heads don't "park" properly and that can lead to the ink drying
>>out and clogging the print heads.
>
> The head usually parks automatically on power fail.  However, the
> problem with Epson (and possibly others) is that they remember the
> time since last use and adjust their automatic head cleaning cycle
> accordingly.  If you unplug them they lose this data and do a full
> clean cycle at next power on.  This uses a lot of ink and reduces the
> cartridge life considerably.


There is, or was, also a problem with the chip on the cartidge getting 
corrupted if the power was pulled, I have both seen it happen and had it 
confirmed bu an engineer at Epson!

Sparks...

Livewire wrote:

> In article , gazter@msn.com says...
>> ~Alex~ wrote:
>>> "alan harvey"  wrote in message
>>> news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>>
>>>
>>> However, I did a quick search on eBay and found something that does the
>>> same
>>> specifically for PCs
>>> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6-Gang-Surge-Protector-USB-Power-Saving-Extension-Lead_W0QQitemZ5805772659QQcategoryZ42321QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
>>> by plugging a USB cable from the PC to the extension lead and when tyhe
>>> USB
>>> power goes off, it cuts the power to the rest of the bank of plugs.
>>> Much cheaper than the one I was thinking about originally; I might even
>>> splash out and get a couple myself :-)
>>>
>>> Hope that helps,
>>> Alex
>>
>> Be wary, i bought a few dozen for resale, and they are not particularly
>> reliable in operation.
>>
>> Gaz
>>
>>
>>
> Hi Gaz
>
> What turned out to be the problem with them?


They relied on the PC turning off and on a current from the usb port. Many 
PCs keep a current through the motherboard, even when shutdown, making it 
kind of pointless. It was hard work shifting them....

Gaz

"Gaz"  wrote in message 
news:3obioqF574oqU1@individual.net...


>
> They relied on the PC turning off and on a current from the usb port. Many 
> PCs keep a current through the motherboard, even when shutdown, making it 
> kind of pointless. It was hard work shifting them....
>
> Gaz
>


I wondered how this worked myself as on all 3 desktops I have, when the 
power is turned on my USB mice all still have power going to them so it 
can't detect power down from that. Good idea but needs to be triggered from 
another signal.

If i can find one triggered by something else i am very interested as i 
rarely us my 2 printers, speakers and scanner connected to the office 
computer but they still sit there in stanby

"alan harvey"  wrote in message 
news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

>A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double bank 
>of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and 
>they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of minutes 
>all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>
> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
> where I bought them.
> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
> archives)
>
> Al

Cheapest I have seen -
http://www.247av.com/advanced_search_result.php?osCsid=be8ce008331c7369495059ee8c5b136a&search_in_description=1&keywords=surge&osCsid=be8ce008331c7369495059ee8c5b136a

"alan harvey"  wrote in message 
news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

>A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double bank 
>of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these and 
>they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of minutes 
>all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>
> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
> where I bought them.
> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
> archives)
>
> Al
>


Oneclick.. seen at  B&Q Warehouse at Doncaster last week for a smidgen less 
than  14

thanks for all your help but it looks like a no no for my friend - he uses a 
laptop as a desktop (having removed the battery as reccommended here) and 
the sockets suggested seem to warn against using with a laptop.
Al

"Robin" <me@nowhere> wrote in message 
news:43247bbf$0$25089$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...

>
> "alan harvey"  wrote in message 
> news:HEKTe.5981$fb.4478@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>>A good while ago someone here put me onto a 6 socket extension (double 
>>bank of 3) which had surge protection and auto off. I purchased 2 of these 
>>and they are great - you switch the computer off and within a couple of 
>>minutes all printers, scanners etc switch off.
>>
>> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find 
>> where I bought them.
>> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
>> archives)
>>
>> Al
>>
>
> Oneclick.. seen at  B&Q Warehouse at Doncaster last week for a smidgen 
> less than  14
>
> 

>> Here's the problem: a mate loves the idea and wants one but I can't find
>> where I bought them.
>> Can anyone refresh my memory ( and/or explain how to access 18 month? old 
>> archives)
>>
>> Al
>>
>
> Oneclick.. seen at  B&Q Warehouse at Doncaster last week for a smidgen 
> less than  14
>


I know many people (most?) object to top posting so apologies for my reply 
to the above.
This was because OE automatically sets you there to start typing and I 
forgot to change it as I rarely post.
I also find it a drudge scrolling down for the 100th time in a row past 
previous replies to read the fresh answer to a query.
So my questions are
1/ can I alter OE to go to the end automatically to start my reply
2/ can I alter OE to go to the end of the >'s and >>'s in a message to save 
scrolling ( I'm a lazy git who always looks for an easier way ;-)

Al

alan harvey [alan.beryl.harvey@blueyonder.co.uk] said


> I know many people (most?) object to top posting so apologies for my reply 
> to the above.
> This was because OE automatically sets you there to start typing and I 
> forgot to change it as I rarely post.
> I also find it a drudge scrolling down for the 100th time in a row past 
> previous replies to read the fresh answer to a query.
> So my questions are
> 1/ can I alter OE to go to the end automatically to start my reply
> 2/ can I alter OE to go to the end of the >'s and >>'s in a message to save 
> scrolling ( I'm a lazy git who always looks for an easier way ;-)


OE is correct in starting at the top of the post as you should snip the 
text you are replying to as you scroll down, just leaving the relevant 
comments under which you should write your reply.

Just scrolling straight to the bottom of a post and writing there is no 
more helpful to the reader than top posting and simply leads to monster 
sized posts.