Headlight failed

facade

All this technology just seems like (expensive) solutions looking for "problems" to solve to me.

My H4 bulbs light the road up fine, and the only adaptive thing I need is the ability to dip them when faced with oncoming traffic.

Even the TV you refer to, I know I got a better picture on my old 625 line panasonic than I get from the blocky low bit rate SD broadcasts that take up most of the channels now, and it was still working fine at about 20 years old when they turned off analogue transmission.
(Indisputably 1080p provides a better picture, but there aren't many free HD channels.)

I'm not saying that the modern stuff isn't technically "better" and more advanced, just that I don't really need it to be, and certainly don't want to pay a massive premium for it.

ic

JP1978 wrote: »

Did you buy the car new? Thought that Vauxhalls had a lifetime warranty (100,000 miles) to the first owner? Was that started when you purchased (if you were the first owner)

I thought this too, but its long gone...

Vauxhall has announced that its much trumpeted 'lifetime warranty', which lasted 100,000 miles and an unlimited amount of time for the first owner of the car, is being dropped as of January 2015, in favour of a traditional three year/ 60,000-mile transferable warranty.

z1a

[QUOTE=

And if you think I'm exaggerating...
Spring 1980 Argos catalogue... page 199. Pye 14" colour portable TV, £225. Don't even ask about a video recorder... That's not Joe Public-level consumer technology for a few more years. Even 1980 is a generation after TVs with valves in - they died out with the transistor revolution in the 1960s.


[/QUOTE]

No, I bought a Ferguson videostar 3V23 in 1981. Cost me £699 though!

Jackmydad

In a few years all cars will be fitted with adaptive LED lights. We'll all be used to them, and if you want an H4 bulb for your "classic" then it'll cost you an arm and a leg.
The problem that early adopters of anything have is that they pay a big price for often relatively unreliable kit.
Anyone remember how CD writers for the PC were when they first became available?

For myself though, I still miss acetylene lights on cars. . .

facade

Jackmydad wrote: »

For myself though, I still miss acetylene lights on cars. . .

And to prove you are right about rising prices of the "classic" stuff, calcium carbide is now £22 a kg

AdrianC

z1a wrote: »

No, I bought a Ferguson videostar 3V23 in 1981. Cost me £699 though!

£2,869 today, after inflation.

When I said "not Joe Public-level consumer"...

Jackmydad

facade wrote: »

And to prove you are right about rising prices of the "classic" stuff, calcium carbide is now £22 a kg

Ouch!
"Sorry occifer, but my lights had blown out and I never noticed!"
There was apparently a move at some time in the 1920s to sell acetylene in small exchangeable bottles. I remember seeing a motorbike in (probably) Classic Bike or similar fitted with such a cylinder. Apparently it never caught on. Electric lights came in and killed the idea.