A Members' Posts

Free: Six glazed prints: Horses & Carriages, 1873 (Dean EH4) 24d - Six simply-glazed-and-framed reproductions of images from Horses & Carriages (William Freelove, 1873). Smallest 11×8cm, largest 22×18cm.

Free: Landline conference 'phone (Dean EH4) Withdrawn 37d - There is a reason YOU MIGHT NOT WANT THIS: it has recently disconnected very briefly a few times in the middle of handset-based calls, usually reconnecting immediately, so some patience/experimentation may be involved in getting handset calls to work perfectly, but that's not why you should want this anyway. I have two theories: one is that the power supply is failing — this would be an easy fix for a few pounds off eBay/Amazon; the other theory is that there's something wrong with the handset cable or connectors. I haven't tried exploring either because this is now surplus to requirements: its strong point has always been hands-free calls, and I'm not doing as many of those as I used to. A Polycom SoundPoint Pro conference 'phone. Polycom are well-known for their excellent and exorbitantly expensive conference 'phones; this one is an old home office one with (I think — never used it!) dual line capability. I can confirm that its hands-free is excellent. It's an old model and never recognised UK caller ID, but otherwise (beyond the above caveat) was my main 'phone until a recent domestic reorganisation.

Free: Another Oppo A5 2020 Android smartphone (Dean EH4) Gifted 37d - Another Oppo A5 2020 Android smartphone. Not the smartest on the block, but it works. This one includes nothing, although it too has a screen protector and a transparent rubberised 'phone protector around the rest of its body. It charges using USB-C so you'll need something appropriate (nope, I'm afraid there isn't even a cable with this one). Specs-wise, obviously it's four years old. It has Android 10, 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, dual SIM capability and (if I remember correctly) an extra SD card slot for more storage. It is not great but it does the job. Photo was taken prior to a factory reset.

Free: Oppo A5 2020 Android smartphone (Dean EH4) Gifted 37d - An Oppo A5 2020 Android smartphone. Not the smartest on the block, but it works. Charger, USB cable, ear buds, manual, original box all included. 'phone has a screen protector and a transparent rubberised 'phone protector around the rest of its body. Specs-wise, obviously it's four years old. It has Android 10, 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, dual SIM capability and (if I remember correctly) an extra SD card slot for more storage. It is not great but it does the job. Photo was taken prior to a factory reset.

Free: Nokia 105 4G mobile phone (Dean EH4) Gifted 37d - A Nokia 105 4G "dumb" mobile phone. Basic comms. Includes charger and manual. The 'phone number on the manual no longer exists.

Free: Cute compact landline answerphone (Dean EH4) Withdrawn 37d - There are two reasons YOU MIGHT NOT WANT THIS: first, its answerphone is a little quiet; second, its number pad buttons are hard to activate, making it annoying as a main outgoing phone but fine for answering incoming calls and recording messages. I suspect that if you could open the handset and spray a little contact cleaner in there, it would improve greatly. I didn't try. This is a very cute Philips landline answerphone, with a little plate that serves either as a wall mount or a foot to prop the 'phone up at an angle. It is working fine other than the above two caveats. You may notice that there are two power supplies: the first (top left) is its original, and it died a while back, but is useful to have around for the original voltage/power spec. The second (top right) is a replacement I got for it which is way more powerful and flexible than it needs to be, but does the job just fine.

Free: DSL modem with ethernet and wi-fi (Dean EH4) Withdrawn 37d - An old Technicolor TG589N V3 DSL modem, including wi-fi and 4 ethernet ports (one of them gigabit). Working perfectly until a few days ago when I was sent an unneeded upgrade. Specs here:

Free: SATA/USB external 3½" hard drive enclosure (Dean EH4) Gifted 37d - A very nice little external hard drive enclosure for 3½" SATA drives (it'll take 2½" too obviously, but I'm not sure whether there'll be a good mechanism for securing them in place), in anodised aluminium and with a metal ventilation grille all around to ensure the disc stays cool. Can sit flat (the finger screws holding the case together have felt pads so they double as feet) or vertically in the included stand, as pictured. The USB interface is USB 2, so you really want to use this just in SATA mode, and for that it's great: it even comes with a backplane bracket to expose one of your PC's motherboard SATA risers out the back of the case. Power supply, instructions and all required cables included.

Free: USB disc dock for 3½" and 2½" SATA hard drives (Dean EH4) Gifted 37d - A disc dock for mounting external hard drives to your PC. This is useful if you're plugging & unplugging different hard drives regularly, but provides no protection for the top half of the drive, so probably not for keeping a drive in for the long term. Accepts SATA drives in 3½" and 2½" formats. I *think* this is USB 3, but cannot confirm: I've nothing to hand to test it with. Power supply and cable included.

Free: USB computer gaming mouse (Dean EH4) Gifted 93d - An old wired USB gaming mouse, a Steelseries Xai. These were very well-regarded in their day, but for reasons (read: the day job) this ended up getting very little use. It is ambidextrous, very responsive, and has lots of programmable buttons. It also has a wire. We will not get into the wired vs wireless gaming mice debate here. Just: this one has a wire. Review:

Free: Landline phone (Dean EH4) Gifted 96d - A Cable & Wireless CWB100 landline phone. Just a phone. For your landline. It is working perfectly. Has slots for wall mounting if you put a couple of screws in the wall the right distance apart. Manual included.

Free: Two stemless wine glasses (Dean EH4) Gifted 100d - A nice pair of stemless wineglasses, light and delicate, with a dimple in the base.

Free: Two pink elephants/Delirium Tremens beer glasses (Dean EH4) Gifted 100d - Two branded Delirium Tremens Belgian beer glasses, covered in pink elephants. 500ml to brim. One has slight damage (chipping) to its base, has done for years, no signs of worsening. Just visible in photo (right edge of front glass).

Free: Two Beinn an Tuirc gin glasses (Dean EH4) Gifted 100d - Two lovely big Beinn an Tuirc branded gin glasses, ready to rumble.

Free: Three beer glasses: ⅓, ½ and ⅔ pint (Dean EH4) Gifted 100d - Three branded beer glasses (Hanging Bat, Beer Hawk, Brewdog) in third, half and schooner sizes: one to suit every occasion!

Free: Four huge stemmed gin balloon glasses (Dean EH4) Gifted 100d - Four huge stemmed gin balloon glasses, with a slight rainbow effect to the glass, for added pzazz. No matter how outrageously large your gins are, they'll look almost teetotal in these. Barely used, in perfect condition, with original (Next) box.

Free: Glass fruit or trifle bowls (Dean EH4) Gifted 106d - Both ~20cm across and 9cm tall: one cut/moulded with what for the sake of differentiation I'll call a sunflower seed head pattern; the other, fruits and leaves.

Free: A pair of half-glazed casseroles/storage jars, one cracked (Dean EH4) Gifted 106d - A pair of half-glazed (inside only) casseroles/storage jars, with handles and lids; one cracked. I'm pretty sure the uncracked one could still go in the oven, but the crack in the other just goes through to the interior glaze so I think it's only suitable for decoration or storage now (the crack's only on one side, so the other side looks fine).

Free: Casserole or storage jar (Dean EH4) Gifted 106d - A nice fully-glazed casserole or storage jar, with handles and lid. About 16cm wide and 16cm tall (including lid).

Free: Large IKEA fruit or salad bowl (Dean EH4) Gifted 106d - A nice big shallow IKEA bowl, good for fruit or salads. 34½cm across and 5½cm deep.

Free: Lloyds Pharmacy contactless thermometer (Dean EH4) Gifted 108d - A Lloyds Pharmacy contactless thermometer. This is very well-reviewed by Which?; for my purposes I needed something more accurate and less subject to external factors (if you've been out in the cold, your skin will be cold and all contactless thermometers will I think give poor results, so I'm using an in-ear one these days). Two modes: one for measuring people, one for liquids or, well, whatever. Batteries not included. Review:

Free: Incense and neat bamboo burner (nice travel kit) (Dean EH4) Gifted 125d - Quite a number of sticks of incense in two sturdy tubes, along with a neat bamboo burner. Scents unknown.

Free: Five warm white E14 LED "golf ball" mains bulbs (Dean EH4) Gifted 125d - Five small mains-powered LED "golf ball" style bulbs, warm white (2700K), 250 lumen, E14 (small screw fitting), 3W each. Age not known but they're all working just fine.

Free: Four 15W CFL bulbs, pendant sockets and three ceiling roses (Dean EH4) Gifted 128d - All working fine, most just taken down recently. The bulbs are all 15W compact fluorescent (60W incandescent equivalent), and have seen some use but weren't noticeably showing signs of age when I took them down. One of the ceiling roses is in pristine condition, but the other two could do with a clean or a lick of paint.

Free: Ashley visor (Dean EH4) Expired 131d - A visor with the name "Ashley" on it. You know that the Ashley in your life couldn't possibly live without this. S/he'll be a stamp collector and need it while examining the extensive collection of stamps I'm also giving away. Or a tennis player (racquet not included). Or maybe they work deep in the print mines or the clerical office. That sort of thing. Couldn't possibly live without it.

Free: Large warm/cold dimmable remote-controlled ceiling light (Dean EH4) Gifted 162d - FOR FULL USE, BEST SUITED TO SOMEONE HANDY WITH A SOLDERING IRON: READ ON.. This is a large (~50cm across) and bright 50W LED ceiling light, with a remote control offering control over both brightness and colour temperature, perfect for a home office/study where you do a mix of work and leisure. Its shallow profile makes it ideal for a low-ceilinged room too. It reaches 4500 lumen, so really quite bright (that's three old 100W incandescent bulbs), and the colour temperature ranges from 3000K (cosy warm white) to 6000K (bright daylight, good for focused work). The manufacturer employed a very neat "frosty morning" trick in the diffuser, giving it tiny patches of transparency through which you can see the LEDs underneath: the net effect is that it sparkles as you walk past (see photo). Obviously it is still working — it's 5 years into the 10 year expected L70 lifespan of its LEDs — but I've noticed it flickering a bit when set to dim recently, and while taking it down for a redo of my domestic lights I took a look at its power supply: sure enough one of the electrolytic capacitors is bulging a bit and needs replacement. Cheap and shite power supply caps are the bane of modern electronics, consigning many a perfectly working item early to the dump just because it can't get good power any more: I replaced a similar part in my hob for about £1, and (touch wood) it is still running perfectly, ten years after the manufacturer said the repair would be £500 and cancelled my repair policy. So: since I don't need the light any more I'm not planning on repairing it myself, but if you have a soldering iron and can replace a capacitor then I think you'll be enjoying this light for years to come. If not, well, it seems to work fine at full brightness anyway.

+1

Free: Snorkel fins (size 8/9/42/43) and mask (Dean EH4) Gifted 167d - Seac Sub Blue Line X-Speed fins, size 8/9/42/43, and a Mares snorkel mask (fits average adult male). These were used on a single holiday quite some time ago so are barely worn — however the mask is developing that slightly sticky surface that you get with ageing plastics. It feels just fine when wet though so I'm reluctant to try the various online suggestions of acetone or nail varnish remover, which I suspect will probably make things worse: I'd just keep it in a plastic bag to stay clean when dry, and otherwise wear it wet. Which, given what it is, shouldn't be too difficult..

Free: Lots of stamps, particularly midcentury Africa (Dean EH4) Gifted 185d - Lots of stamps, particularly fabulously colourful ones from mid-century Africa; many still attached to envelopes/postcards; many small bags too. Also: a rather empty collector's album, and a few first day covers (BBC 1972, European Communities 1973, Railways 1975, Turner 1975, Horseracing 1979).

Free: Pet Remedy pet calming measures (Dean EH4) Gifted 185d - Look at that lovely little doggy/moggle/wabbit/tweety-pie. Doesn't it look like it desperately needs a spa day? A bit of relaxation? Hasn't it been working just too hard trying to cheer you up recently? It needs drugs, and you are about to become its favourite pusher. These sprays and wipes are apparently clinically proven to de-stress and calm our little darlings. I don't have pets. My sister gave these to me. I remain somewhat confused.

Free: Camping Gaz CV270/470 canister (230g) (Dean EH4) Gifted 185d - Unused since we don't have any appliances that fit it. This is the click type connector, not screw type.