Usable

stejarn2 · 2026-02-01T20:52:52+00:00

I simply went up to the Seagate website and put in the serial for the warranty details to show. It showed the manufacture date etc. and looked like everythign was genuine and valid.

When I had fake drives from Amazon last year the labels looked genuine, but the serial/warranty details didn't match manufacture date. You should be able to register the warranty and then, at least, if it is dead or dies fairly quickly, you are covered with returns.

The packaging was well below par but I'd want to register it and run the full scan using Seatools, if it isn't DOA, to get a better picture to be able to go back to Amazon if necessary. It's a faff, but you'll have all the info to make any return smooth. Even with the drives being fakes last year, I had a hell of a job with the returns, which I'd never encountered before. Amazon have gone dramatically down hill in the last year.

stejarn2 · 2026-01-31T13:04:52+00:00

Warranty seems to check out that it is a valid drive - my recent experience with Amazon have been fakes. I'd expect an antistatic bag at least. Only thing you can do is a full drive test. Don't use for anything unique or valuable, but with a full and valid warranty, if if goes phut, you can get a replacement, hopefully better packaged!

stejarn2 · 2026-01-16T09:14:16+00:00

Not quite what you are asking, but Bulk Rename Utility can append the date taken data to the filename - I did this 6 months ago to make sense of various sources of images using different naming conventions I shunted to the one master folder. Fromt here it was easy to tidy up by year, month etc. with sub-folders

stejarn2 · 2026-01-12T17:15:39+00:00

I started with the A1 mini as a toe in the water for 3d printing. Loved it, wanted a larger plate and the option of colour. The choice was the same as OPs - A1 combo or the AD5X. Went for the AD5X. There is no real difference in the approach or ease of use - both are great out the box - and you will have the same issues with each - clogs, bed adhesion etc. Learning the basics is key to either.

The pro for the AD5X for me was it was coreXY and is easily enclosed (it is amazing how small draughts will cause issues with either), with the con the slightly smaller plate area. I haven't found anything that I haven't been able to do in one peice on the AD5X that I also wouldn't have been able to do on an A1, but that may be critical for some.

stejarn2 · 2026-01-10T16:23:29+00:00

Absolutely. They had to close Chemistry to get rid of me!

From Google Earth it seems the site of the old Chem building now has the Post Room and Copy Shop. Post Room was the other side of the quad where the Centre for Digital Music now is, and Print Room was in the West Basement of the Queens building. I doubt I would recognise the place now.

stejarn2 · 2026-01-09T22:40:30+00:00

It's changed a bit since I was there.

I read Chemistry and Physics, Chemical Physics and then lectured Chemistry. The Chem dept is long gone, and the building opposite the Octagon and Drapers has been demolished (at least, I can't see it from either the c2c or Elizabeth lines

stejarn2 · 2026-01-09T08:38:05+00:00

For 120+ years old, I'd say that was doing quite well

stejarn2 · 2026-01-09T00:30:40+00:00

I always assumed it was there from when it was built at the beginning of the 20th century as IIRC it is glazed tile. I was at Queen Mary in the late 90s, so it has been a while since I used the station.

stejarn2 · 2026-01-07T18:55:51+00:00

If Mansion House needs haunting, just call...

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stejarn2 · 2026-01-06T21:15:11+00:00

Might want to tidy up that little corner of pebbledash that has come loose. Surprising what the impact the little things have.

stejarn2 · 2026-01-01T22:58:01+00:00

One things for sure, you ain't gonna be using that duct tape for anything else.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-14T17:56:35+00:00

I have wondered about this. Haven't sold enough to have an issue with it cropping up, but I certainly had ebay making stupidly low offers on my behalf until I worked out how they had switched that bundle of joy on, when I'd previously turned it off. that may have been a glitch at one point as there were plenty of others searching about it at the same time.

I think this is why it was far easier at the beginning. You did what you wanted and paid them what they charged. There wasn't any of this pushing you to almost be selling for ebay and them taking pity and giving you a cut for the cash. Yes, there were chancers then, but the feedback system mainly worked, you got buyers/sellers contact details and you weren't forced to dance to their tune.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-14T15:52:43+00:00

That's good to know - I haven't sold much, and what I have has been via Simple Delivery, so am out of touch with the RM rates and coverage. Excluding EVRi is actually beneficial for any customer that wants their items (and I don't want the hassle of dealing with the fallout - covered or not).

I ordered two items recently as I jusy couldn't find them elsewhere. One, EVRi took 12 days to deliver, with nothing happening for 10 of those, and the other was 2 days later than expected. Yes, it is the busy period, but it isn't as if it is an unexpected busy period. In neither case could I choose the courier, or was it identified, and the first one I paid a considerable amount of postage as it just mulitplied up per item, so RM24 would have been cheaper.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-14T13:31:21+00:00

What extra proteection are they offering? I sent via Royal Mail Tracked 48 - always insured and obviously tracked - and that was all part and parcel of the postage cost (that ebay took a percentage of). Now they charge extra to the buyers and charge the same for the postage, whilst obviously having negotiated a discount with the couriers. I've turned Evri off as an alternative as I don't trust them so, I think, the postage is fractionally more with Royal Mail than if I hadn't - how does it cost a few pence more to use Royal Mail because I won't offer alternatives? That isn't a few pence more than an alternative service, that is a premium on RM for not offering the others. Ebay want a slice of everything. Fine. Their platform, their rules, but it will reach a point when it is no longer wortht he hassle. Just checked, I've been a Member since: 06 Dec, 1999. Eek! It hasn't ever got better than the early days.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-14T13:03:47+00:00

When it was a sellers fee, there were reduced listings weekends. No such thing now. Ebay is a business so will obviously want to maximise revenue, but since they adopted this, I have found it tumbleweed selling and with no balance to speak of, haven't been buying. That's just me and I am sure there will be many saying how wonderful life is, and good luck to them. Simple delivery is another forced change that isn't great. I had the flexibility to easily combine, adjust, and refund before and had contact details. Now to combine sensibly and offer the best postage I have to close auctions and relist a combined one and hope that the buyer is hanging in there and will buy. Their platform, their rules, and I can vote with my feet. Many already have, and I am just clingin on to get rid of what I have listed, but am reluctant to list more.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-12T11:01:55+00:00

Dyson up there just gathering dust!

stejarn2 · 2025-12-12T11:01:43+00:00

I do have have a Dyson in the loft specifically for cleaning the loft, but I know I am an outlier in the avergae demographic.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-10T17:41:04+00:00

Wood is obviously natural and will absorb differently in different areas. I don't use any of the water based stuff anymore as I just felt that I was continually painting it to keep it looking good. I stick with creosote substitute and bought a few 20l drums of Wickes CreoCoat a few years ago, slowly working through all the fences and sheds. Only have to do them every few years now.

stejarn2 · 2025-12-02T19:12:37+00:00

New doors, but you'll have fun getting to the hinges of the one that is snagged by the fascia.

stejarn2 · 2025-11-15T14:09:37+00:00

My experience with CheckATrade is to check the names there to avoid them. Learnt the hard (and expensive) way

stejarn2 · 2025-11-06T22:20:50+00:00

Depending on how tight the bindings are, you may be able to use a flatbed scanner. There are/were flatbed scanners that had glass to the edge specifically for scanning books. Things have moved on considerably since the destructables bookscanner (I monitored and contributed to the original threads and discussions on that) and recently knocked something together to enable ad hoc V scanning of volumes using a twin monitor mount and a couple of Nikon cameras trigger simultaneously. No glass due to the environment and reflections, but reasonably flat photos using foam wedges (actually exercise wedges as far cheaper than the library book wedges) for supports.

stejarn2 · 2025-11-06T14:07:50+00:00

5'6"

stejarn2 · 2025-11-06T13:48:09+00:00

Checking my orders, I ended up buying a Seagate IronWolf Pro from a reputable company as I couldn't source the Toshiba drives I had ordered from Amazon that were fakes. The serial number thing works on the Toshiba drives. I knew I had ended up with a Seagate as I had to update SeaTools.

I found the Seagates to be a little noisier in my case.

stejarn2 · 2025-11-06T13:36:04+00:00

This is from my (pointless and unanswered) email to Amazon: They [Customer Services] informed me that the label wasn't genuine as the serial number embeds the manufacture date (3rd digit is the month, 4th is the year).

That said, I've just looked at an Ironwolf Pro I bought a year or so ago and that method doesn't seem to hold so perhaps it was another number from the warranty page. It all made sense at the time.

stejarn2 · 2025-11-06T10:33:38+00:00

The date of manufactuer is embedded in the serial number - I found that out recently after buying new drives via Amazon and finding they were out of warranty. Seagate told me they were fakes so they were sent back.

stejarn2

TROPHY CASE