MK Essentials

They're not what they used to be either.

The first mainframe I saw was a Honeywell

Owain

I've only ever seen one actual Honeywell machine, and it was a 16 bit one (the same sort they used for TIPs on the ARPAnet).

Many years ago, I did a project where I modified the CPU on that machine; this involved new boards and wire wrapping, and it modified the instruction set a little bit.

Recently, I wanted to handle a control panel from such a machine (long story) and measure stuff. The Science Museum had one, and after long negotiation I was allowed access.

The conservator was *very* surprised when I first handled it, as I said: "This is the first time I've touched this in 44 years".

Yes, my research had shown that it was the ACTUAL SAME ONE!

Longer story here:

the first mainframe I saw was a LEO

And I'm not that old

:-)

tim

Hideous. ;-) For best value, the BG range from TLC takes some beating, Plain simple design too.

When we bought this house in 1976 and rewired throughout, MK was the brand leader and was what we used. ISTR that the total price for everything came to about £108. I suspect with successive governments reducing £1 to be only worth 1 shilling it'd be a lot more than that now!

We made the effort to put loadsa extra 13 amp sockets in every room but still we have not enough!

It's the 21st century equivalent of old ladies reminiscing about mangles in dementia therapy.

the one I saw was at Aber Uni on an educational visit.

Owain

I believe that Clipsal do a 5 gang version.

The normal BG or the BG Nexus?

So they do.

Although IMHO it's not a problem for the blind but only a problem for the obese as they cannot manage to only press one switch at a time due to their fat fingers.

When has it been any different? Even 40+ years ago I was aware that a VHS video recorder with a "quality name", and price to match, came from the same assembly line (with identical innards) as a much cheaper brand in the marketplace. This is also when I started losing faith in the Which? reviews which gave widely different "quality" scoring for two identical units with different badges. The more expensive of the boxes was a best buy while the other wasn't worth considering.

I came across this the other way round in the 1960s. Fergusson TVs were good, HMV bad. Turned out the HMV sample only had one HMV and it had a fault.

I've never used the Nexus. The normal is my choice where style etc doesn't matter. Although there may be better around now - but not that cheap MK by the look of it. ;-)

The normal BG is pretty close to an older MK design.

Which can only report on the examples they tested. For a larger sample, you'd need the reader's experiences. But few who dislike Which ever read beyond the headlines.

The normal BG is our cheap fit for cheap jobs where no one cares, say a cheap rental or a socket in the loft. Never had a problem with it.

Normally we fit Scolmore Click stuff.

All schools, hospitals, doctors surgeries etc nearly always demand that MK is fitted. I understand it when specialist anti bacterial accessories are required, but the rest of it is bollocks.

I have not got one and I don't want one.

it was just a place holder for "insert your favourite brand of expensive consumer electronics here"

tim

Quite. China simply makes anything the customer demands. If they want cheap rubbish, they are happy to supply you. They seem to leave it to Western makers to source their stuff there and put their own brand name on it. And charge you several hundred percent extra for that brand name.

Is BG made in the UK or 'lovingly designed in the UK'?