BlueFly

hi fanyong, whether u save money by getting a storage tank or instant heater depends on yr family size la. storage tank saves more if there're lots of family members showering and needs hot water. but if u live alone or with yr wife, yr electricity bill will be more with a storage tank bcoz altho' less ppl use the hot water it still takes same amt of electricity to heat up the water in the tank. with an instant heater u pay for what u use so in that sense it may be result in a lower electricity bill. another consideration is usage pattern e.g.if u heat up the storage tank, but each member takes his/her own sweet time to shower, than the water will cool down and the tank needs to be heated up again. so u pay more for electricity. but with an instant heater u pay only when u turn on the heater, isn't it? gas heaters - whether tank storage or instant - are cheaper to operate, and u can read the info at the citygas showroom. now, whether u install electric or gas heater u need to consider the piping issue. i actually wanted to install a Rinnai gas instant heater from citygas showroom but cancelled the order later bcoz it was unsightly/ugly to run the pipes from the source to the heater! in the end i got an electric instant heater since there were only 2 of us in the family - our son was studying overseas. finally tank heaters (usually $300-500) cost more than instant heaters (less than $200). in my old condo i installed a premium german storage tank heater and it served me well for 12+ yrs before it broke down. after that i installed an instant heater bcoz the same german brand unit asking price was so much higher it was not justified. nowaday every businessman just wants to empty yr pocket -- like ntuc comfort, they can simply decide to jack up fares bcoz they want to maintain good profit. no where else in the world except here can a business operate with a guaranteed proft, isn't it? but that's what we hv in tpt companies here - the govt guarantees smrt, cab operators, etc a profit by regularly reviewing and approving fare hikes. until ppl cannot tahan anymore as shown in recent election outcome. even hawkers are getting into the act - now prices are jacked up if they see big crowds in the malls where they operate. never mind the tasteless food they sell, the small portion, etc - the big crowd has no choice la. my point is u hv got to watch out for yrself, not only consider operating costs but also the initial outlay n the installation cost. also, watch out for dishonest id/contractor who quote hhigh prices and try to chop flat owners if they don't do their homework first by getting competitive quotes first. all the best,

hi fiznniz i suggest u read up on the experiences of other posters who hv had bad experience with id/contractor, despite the recommendation obtained from forummers. best is to listen carefully to the id's talk and decide how much u can trust him. ask him lots of questions, tire him out, and see how he respond, whether he is patient or has a temper. my blog offers advice and suggestions on what u can do or how to renovate yr flat. read blogs from other renotalk forummers too, but please do not simply accept recommendation, some of which can be faked. You got to use yr own best judgement as u seem to be a sensible and intelligent guy, judging from yr post! All the best and congrats on yr 5-rm flat selection!

hi edenstrauss! thanks for yr feedback. thought i would share with those keen to buy where they can get it. didn't know it's available here. wow, hats off to you, you must really really love art pieces of buddha, a connoisseur in fact! And no, i don't trade in such art pieces, neither do i hv a set. Didn't hv the $$ *sigh* to buy when my wife and i came across the lovely wall piece at an Aonang Beach outlet in Krabi. i was so taken with the piece i immediately took a shot, so now at least i can vicariously enjoy the art piece in my digital foto album once in a while. Actually from yr selection i can see u hv a good n critical eye for art pieces. i agree with yr opinions on the pieces u wished to buy, but only after u hv pointed out the good features (or bad ones) in the piece. otherwise i wld be really clueless! see'ya!

Hi All! Just some wall decor art-piece to share. It's in copper bas-relief, beautifully hand-crafted and a panoramic 3-in-1 piece! Cheers!

Hi All, For those of you who follow my Blog, especially to find info on how to choose ID, do home renovation, or avoid mistakes, etc - today marks an Important Day! That's bcoz I have implemented a new INDEX Tab for easy blog navigation! Now you will find it easier than ever to locate information on my blog. You'll notice Labels and Archive are no longer around. They've served their purpose well when the Blog first started and the number of posts was small and manageable. But as the number of posts grew over time, older posts became buried and misplaced. Locating them was quite a challenge. The new INDEX Tab solves these issues. Now when you click on the INDEX Tab, a page will open up listing all post titles. Try it now. You'll agree the new INDEX tab makes it easier to navigate and locate information. Click to visit my Blog! and learn how to renovate your home! If you've questions give your comments in the Shout-Box. See'ya !

hey, i absolutely agree with you! hahaha I installed normal ceiling lights because I didn't like false ceilings as that makes the space appear much smaller and tiny. As it is, my hdb flat already look squashed and cramped, and the term 'shoe-box' flat is getting popular with most buyers in the market. Aesthetics (false ceiling, covelighting, downlights) and the look and 'feel' of a space does not depend solely on the downlights - many other things add/subtract to the design and space. Such as the ambience and overall quality of lighting in the room. That would include table lamps, wall lights, and floor lights. Also how you choose and create a lighting plan for your home to give a nice, warm ambience that makes your home truly welcoming. Not only to yr family but also guests.

oh gosh! 20% spoiled? That is not good. Assuming you paid $100 for 5 items @$20 each, it means you're paying 20% more for the rest 80%. That is more that 50% (if you i/c shipping, etc)for each product! No-lah, cannot tahan, if i were u i would look for on-line suppliers that are more established e.g. Amazon, etc. Of course, depends on luck too, sometimes 'suay' also get lousy product from est players. Like when I ordered a high resolution 27-inch monitor on-line from Dell S'pore not long ago. Good thing was - dell was responsive and promptly exchanged for another. If I were you I would seriously consider LEDs. Three yrs ago when I renovated my flat I looked for LED lighting. But few retailers dealt in them, the only one was Lightcraft at Jln Sultan. The range of LEDS for consumers (unlike projects) was limited to a few test items to trial the market. Prices then were high. Today prices have come down a fair bit. But still more exp than normal non-leds. The range is also wider now, with higher wattage and brighter illumination (higher luminance per watt). My LEDs have served me well. No damage/spoilage yet (touch wood!), though I switched them on 24x7 for many weeks at a time. The savings in electricity is significant on an LED per se (but given that i only installed 2 wall LEDs, didn't make any impact on my monthly electricity bill). Now you can even install long LED "tubes" like your normal ceiling fluorescent tube. So why not consider? BTW has anyone installed LEDs? I would like to know how is their experience and view photos of their flat with the LEDs. Pl share.

Yes, I can affirm haijitu's claims. I bought 2 units KDK ceiling fans and 2 units Amasco ceiling fans with 4 lighting attachments. The first KDK fan was installed in the living area, the second was not installed when I changed the plan for the dining area. The Amascos were installed, one in each bedrooms. Why like that? Well, bcoz the KDK came with a remote control, very useful in a living area with guests around. Actually, I wanted to buy remotes for ALL the fans. But the Amasco model with the lighting attachments did not come with the remote control feature. What has been my experience? First, the KDK fan. The KDK still works very well after 3+ yrs today: no irritating grinding sound when the fan blade whirls, the remote control still works on the same battery since first installed!! Maybe it's time the battery should die out and be changed, hahaha ? The KDK fan blade is possibly the smallest amongst competing brands, so it does not provide as strong a wind as the others. But I tested it at the shop. And I found it was good and strong enough for me. Back home in my flat, under setting 3 - the highest speed - I could feel a strong gust on the sofa placed 6 feet away from the fan center. That is, the KDK fan has no problem cooling guests sitting within a 12-feet diameter of the fan. Under the lowset '1' setting, I could still get the wind, but this time it is a gentle breeze. Morever, as far as sound goes, the KDK fan only makes the unmistakable wind / fan whirling sound under setting 3, it doesn't give make any sound in the other 2 settings. I would have no hesitation recommending KDK. But Amasco? Forget it! Better get rid of the name in my vocab! What utter rubbish of a fan company. Let me explain: a few days before the 1-yr warranty expired, the fan gave off a rumbling spound, and soon stopped working right on the day the warranty expired! I didn't believe it, like so eerie, uncanny, and ghostly..? Well, I called for service with AMASCo. And you know what? Seemed the staff girl in the service dept knew exactly why I called. Before I could explain the reason for my call, she said: "I know, the compressor died and needs repair. Tpt $30 + spare compressor $50 = $80!. Pay the tech guy when he finishes the repair work. what's the address?" It became clear to me that AMASCo fans have some built-in faulty compressor in some models, so much so that the service staff knew exactly what was wrong whenever any customer with the particular fan model called. If that is so, then the factory should be honorable - like Toyota, Honda, or any other ethical mfr'er, etc - they should rightly and immediately make a customer/model recall to repair/replace the faulty compressor, right? Instead, customers have to shell out $80, maybe $100 today, for repair(s). But that's not the end of the story. After the technician made the repair, I asked him to take a look at the AMASCo fan in the other bedroom bcoz it was starting to make a sound, just like the fan that needed repair. And he said: "Sorry, not my business. I came here to repair, not to look at yr other AMASCo fan. Call the service staff if you have any problem." What? $%%###1!!! The only way I could show my disgust with his behavior was to snub him and not offer him any coffee/snack. Which I usually do for all and any service person who come to my flat. Don't laugh, that's just me, hahaha. Maybe I should make a rude gesture instead? hahaha. AMASCO? Every night we have to endure the click-criklity-crick irritation as the fan turns.. and I have then to get up and 'touch' certain lights to stop the sound...arrgghhh! Amasco? Forget it!

Mold is the result of dampness, especially virulent in our humid climate. You get a lot of mold around tile grouts in bathroom walls and sink/tap joints. Best method is to spray a mold remover on the mold to kill it. My method is very cheap, and is described in length on my blog.

Resist a bit, and the contractor will reduce the quote price - hahah. You should try to hold and compare with other contractors. Most will quote around 300-400, depending on how the id/cotractor perceive, whether you're the type who can be "persuaded" easily or can easily "throw" money. Please confirm beforehand the glass backsplash is in one single piece and not 2 or more smaller pieces! Also, you should double-check first how you want the backsplash to be cut and fitted on your kitchen wall, especially critical is the cut-out holes for electrical sockets and switches. Many have cried foul over ugly or uneven electrical cutouts on the backsplash. All the best, Bluefly

hdb will handle the legal doc on yr behalf, as they have in-house lawyers on their panel. the fee you pay hdb lawyer is included in the total transaction cost levied by hdb when you appear with the buyer before them to make final payment settlement and do the title transfer. the fee is minimal. hope that helps.

Yes, I agree quite a few posts in this thread look suspicious. Those who join Renotalk merely to post recommendations (after 1 or 2 posts) assume forum readers are dumb! But luckily forum readers are not dumb; many in fact are able to separate genuine posts from fake ones. Reading thru this thread shows many readers are not taking the bait, bravo *applause* Who are the id's fooling? Our forum readers are smarter than they think! So those poor but lazy IDs who get their friends or associates to post fake recommendations should wake up their idea and work harder to get genuine recommendations. Unless they deliver good performance, no client with integrity will recommend. Goodness, we've to watch out for ourselves, coz every business these days (hawkers, dept stores, electrical stores, etc) is targeting the consumer - jacking up prices at every chance and forgetting customer service and good honest work. So - yes, trust and ask forumers who have T-Blogs to show, warts and all, the reno progress of their homes. Even then, read their posts and you'll be able to tell the genuine posters from the fake ones - even if some IDs were to fake T-blogs too!

hi sng28, Sorry if my review added to yr concerns. And thanks for yr info regarding WD-40, vinegar, etc. My method is to use a stiff brush and scrub, scrub, scrub. That will keep my sink haze-free for a week, i think. So yes, I guess regular cleaning and maintenance is in order. Except I'm lazy - i like everything to be done quickly and easily! But i must say, when my sink is haze-free and uncluttered with unwashed tableware, it looks really nice and elegant! So that's the redeeming feature of blanco sink that first attracted me (and still does) to buy the sink. maximus, sorry if i'm OT. Must really compliment you on yr reno, looks excellent so far! Also, yr 3D designs are inspiring and I look fwd to yr reno photos soon!

Hi RB, sorry 4 not responding earlier, i've been away. yay, wish it's like you say - dancing, you're right, i enjoy dancing - but only with a good partner! these days, not so free.. more seriously, from my profile you'll notice i seldom post. or did so sporadically. i only post to nudge or point the way, or do research. anyway, a quick glance at what i've missed past weeks showed you've been busy helping forumers with their Q. You shld start a blog on hi-fi, i think. ok, now to get some shut eye <-- asleep already!

Yep, you're figuring out quite rightly what's the buzz with each component. There's a reason and place for high-power amp and unless you understd why you'll be misled by sales talk. Keep on reading and understanding the principles behind each component and what each one does and soon you'll find out what determines musicality as opposed to loudness. Obviously the type of music CDs you listen to has impact on yr choice of components, but how do you decide and choose unless you understd what each component does? Many can rattle out the specs but have no idea what the specs mean in real life or how they translate to actual listening experience.

Yes, I absolutely agree. The anticipation, the tweeking, the try-out.. your statement brought back the memories when I was putting my set together. Nice!

Hey RB, Either you or I don't understand what the various components in the chain do, so let's chill and drop it, shall we? Maybe one fine day, if you have the time, let's go for a cuppa and enjoy good music together since we're both into hi-fi. Thank you for yr piece, Cheers,

Thank you for your rebuttal. That is why I said one should not simply follow blindly what one reads on forums or from mfr`ers' site(s) but do more due diligence - read up on users' experiences. Obviously we can't simply rely on what one or two users said (that includes me), not knowing where they came from, but if the sample base of users' experiences is large enough, we can safely adopt what they said. It is not that I don't trust mfr`ers but other than useful info they presented on their site, the rest I will assign to the bin as marketing 'hype'. But user experiences? I think that is the only dependable info I can use today, provided the sample base is large enuf. As you know, a mfr'er reputation can change - e.g. Seagate HD was highly regarded a few years ago for reliability but today they hv lost out to WD when many users complained about their more recent models. When I got the same experience with my Seagate HD bought about 1 yr ago (had been using Seagate far longer than that, also Conners, Maxtor, IBM's), I switched to WD last year. And so far found WD to be very good: fast, silent, running at lower power than Seagate's. WD today is larger than Seagate with No: 1 mkt share. Recently they competed against Seagate in acquiring Hitachi HD div and succeeded. Or take Sony. Lower end models are produced in Malaysia and it is common knowledge the quality is inferior to Sony's made-in-Japan. Even Canon or Nikon's quality reputation cannot be trusted today. They both have quality issues. With the Net so pervasive today, one can quickly find out if a product sucks. A mfr'er quality and reputation can "slip" now and then. That does not come from me but is a market fact. Whatever I shared is from personal experiences, not some hype from sales people or from mfr'er sites or their agents. That does not mean I'm right, but even if I cannot trust my own experiences, at least I hv many others who shared similar experiences on products I used, such as cameras and TVs. BTW, have you considered the fact that suppliers don't tell where they source their products is their business secret and marketing strategy? Obviously one reason is bcoz they have to protect the brand name, not to hide some thing. E.g. OSIM brands and sells many products at very high prices, yet they don't make any of the products they sell. They are merely a marketing company, and they're very good at marketing. They don't divulge where or who make their products. Can you say therefore bcoz OSIM (and Ron Sim) does not reveal who is the OEMs therefore his products are suspect and inferior? Sure, I am ready to take you seriously any time - the moment you tell me you have "x" number of years using that particular product or brand and have not experienced any problem with it. Otherwise I will just regard what you say as "hearsay", no offense intended. That does not mean I'm right either. Because maybe in time many users will report their experiences and confirm that such-and-such no-source local brand is really inferior. Until then, I stand by what I said. So yes, khengjoo, I absolutely agree - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! hahaha

Hey, Rimblock, well said and thoughtful. That said, however, I'm puzzled bcoz if you look at the specs for PC tweeters and so on, they are not far from the specs for high-end speakers. OK, maybe the difference in the highs by a few thousand Mhz and the same for the bass. Those with ability to listen more acutely may detect some difference, but by not much, I'm afraid, to call a discernible difference. Yes, the more you listen the more your ears become 'attuned' to the nuances. After years of listening to my hi-fi set, I thought my ears had become "used" to high end sound quality, and indeed I could hear differences in recording quality e.g. Teresa Teng Live CD, Carol Kidd audiophile recordings showed their paces in A-B tests. But what shocked me later was to hear my low end PC set giving musical quality I had not expected. ( don't let my spouse hear that). So if the specs don't point out much difference b/w components, where did the musicality come from? Was it the amp, pre-amp, or perhaps the carbon-fibre sound cables? I did A-B tests at high-end retail outlets and to be honest, I simply couldn't tell much difference between the various high ends. On some recordings I preferred Magneplanars, on others I preferred Thiels or Genesis (couldn't afford the latter actually!). I think mfr'ers (and advertisers) wld like consumers to think otherwise, likewise audio retailers. Visit any showroom and the staff will put you thro A-B listening tests and try to persuade you to hear the "differences". The only brand I had no hesitation on was Goldmund - their high end blew away the competition. For me at least. And most of my buddies who are into high end also shared my opinion, more or less. They couldn't hear the difference b/w one set vs another set in an apple-to-apple comparison. That's why I pin-pointed the processing power of the cpu chip - the faster it can process the huge mass of audio data, the less "jitter" is introduced, the more accurate the signal reproduction, and by extension, the musical fidelity of the music wave form reproduced. BTW, have you noticed the higher the freq you use to rip yr music the larger the music file and the better the audio quality? And the larger the audio information the more processing power is required to translate the signal to send to the analog speakers. Many high-end eqt do not process signals (read: convert) at such high freq, maybe a limitation of the embedded cpu and the product life cycle? It's not that I think my high end gear sounded like my low-end PC set but that my low-end PC sounded as good, enough to match my high end!!! Hahaha, seems I'm playing with words but I am not - it's something to do with perspective, with how the mind thinks and works. And it can be quite deceptive. And oh, allow me to correct you - CD drives are "slow" by comparison - it's the cpu speed and RAM memory buffer available that determine how 'fast' CD rips and conversion take place. Also, my point was that if the analog wave form is "defective" the analog speakers (no matter the pedigree) couldn't reproduce what was in the original wave form. That is, the speakers can only reproduce musical fidelity as good as the data presented in the converted wave form. The higher the processor speed the more "true" will be the converted wave form, hence my view that the DAC contributes a high portion of the original fidelity and hence, listening experience, while the rest of the audio chain merely add another few % to the quality and listening experience. That was why (in my humble opinion) I was surprised I began enjoying PC music after the pentium 4 generation, but not before that. I believe PC music will only get better as mfr'er start to focus on PC speakers. B&W came out with an $800-900+ pair of PC speakers last yr or two that wow'ed many reviewers - playing the usual marketing game - and I think others will follow. But maybe you're right after all - it must be my ears or age. Thanks, enjoyed your piece really. Will now go clean my ears

Hi All! I find it amusing that we should be so concerned with flooring tile "brands". I mean, whether I installed the most expensive flooring brand or normal brand, I won't notice the difference since I can't tell them apart, isn't it? The only difference is whether the tiles meet users' expectation and are durable. When I was renovating my home no user had reported their long-term usage experience and therefore I didn't know if more expensive brands like Pergo, Kronotec, etc wld be preferable over normal brands like Supreme or Premier, etc. Thus, to get an idea of quality and reliability issues, I went to the mfr's site and read up on their production standards and quality to get some idea. I also read up on users' experience for reliability and durability issues. Thus when I chose Premier at least I knew what I was buying and paying for. So far - 3+ yrs after installation and usage - I have not encountered any problem with my ordinary Premier brand of laminated flooring. In fact, it has been problem-free so far. And the only maintenance I did was to use a mop that was squeezed as "dry" as I could. Sometimes liquid was accidentally spilled when I was busy doing something. And I cleaned up later after completing what I had been occupied with i.e. 5-10 minutes later. In other words, no need to be kang-cheong with spillage. As long as you clean up within a reasonable time I think the flooring should be unaffected. I say that based on logic, bcoz if a product is damaged so easily the mfr'er would start getting complaints and would quickly go out of business. They know most people don't clean up that fast (or forget to do immediately), so unless they don't care about their quality, reputation and long-term business they will make products to meet minimum quality standards and satisfy users' expectation. Maybe I will have a different opinion of my Premier tiles after 5, 10 yrs of usage? I don't know. However, I tend to think that if a product can last 3+ yrs with no problems, then it should be good for 10 yrs. Therefore, I will go for normal brands, esp those with no bad users' experience, and so far I am not aware of any bad user experience with either Supreme or Premier. Or have I missed out on something? I think if you exercise normal care your laminated flooring should withstand normal wear-and-tear. That said, I want to point out I have been wrong before. Example: I previously thought all acrylic worktops were the same but found out otherwise! My acrylic worktop was a case in point. There is one major difference though. My acrylic worktop was produced by a local factory on-an-adhoc basis i.e. the factory produced the acrylic worktop based on the ID/Contractor "made-to-measure" order to fit my home worktop. It was not mass-produced, and perhaps didn't met minimum specified standards, or perhaps the chemical mix (raw mtrl cost rise and fall) might have been varied for my order to meet internal profit or cost yardsticks. In my case I think my acrylic worktop was sub-standard, maybe had an inferior chemical mix. You can read more on that on my blog. Laminated floor tiles are produced in large quantities for the market (due to the nature of the production equipment). Any negative mkt feedback will therefore impact future sales and profit, much more than factories producing on a one-to-one adhoc basis. That is, laminated floor tile makers cannot be careless or slipshod with quality standards. So, if you want to save, Premier is good for me, at least for the past 3+ yrs. cheers

Hi All! Let me chime in pl. I've been following this thread on-and-off, with some amusement. Amusement bcoz it reminded me of my own hi-fi journey some 20+ yrs ago. I first took hi-fi seriously when I ploughed my savings from NS to buy my first "high-end" set from Atlas Sound at Shenton Way - B&W speakers, Thoren t/t, Luxman amp, Teac CD player, all high-end brands in those days. Each evening, after home from camp, I really enjoyed the rich clear transcendent sound coming from the speakers! Then digital music came into vogue in the eighties (at least for me). By then I was into "The Absolute Sound" - a monthly high-end magazine noted for excellent reviews of state-of-the-art hi-fi eqt and equally unbiased, un-influenced excellent commentaries. TAS was critical of so-called high-end eqt of-the-day and rarely endorsed any one brand or product. TAS thus became a hit with serious audiophiles. When TAS opined that finally - in the late 90s - digital music had come of age and rivaled analogue music (read: LP vinyl record) in musical fidelity and quality, I bit the bullet and splurged on what I thought was high-end eqt capable of reproducing music at its recorded best: Krell amp, Krell pre-amp, Thiel CS3.6 speakers, Theta DAC, etc. By then Sony had popularised portable music with its Walkman. Then the Internet was birthed here in the mid-90s. By the late 90s mp3's had become popular and widely available (read: downloads!) on the Net - sparked by Apple's ipods - and I began to listen to mp3's and ripped CDs more frequently. About 10 years ago it suddenly dawned upon me how really good music sounded on my "low" end computer speakers!!! Especially digital music ripped using the uncompressed .flac format. I was startled! Maybe something was bad with my ears or brain? Or maybe I've aged? I mean, how could a lowly set of computer eqt rival my high-end that had cost 45k+? I was piqued, and decided to dig for more info about music reproduction. The Net made that easy, unlike the 80s and early 90s, when it was difficult (read: expensive and time-consuming) to research up-to-date info. Well, after all those reading, and analyzing my high-end eqt vs my low-end PC setup, I've my own theory (so pl read with a big pinch of salt, I don't know if I'm right). Now, my high-end is still covered in plastic wrap after I moved housed 3+ yrs ago. Maybe I 'm wrong, but I'm convinced my PC music set rivals my high-end eqt in musical reproduction within the parameters of a desktop environment. That qualification is important as I am at my desktop most of the time, and I listen to music while working. Well, I think the most important variable in high end music-reproduction is the DAC, not the pre-amp, amplifier, speakers, cables, etc. The DAC converts data i.e. digital signal to analogue for reproduction via the chain (the pre-amp and amp to the speakers) and the fidelity (or faithfulness) of reproduction of the original analogue recording or digital data depends on the CPU processor frequency. I would attribute the DAC - in my opinion - to contribute a high 85-90% to musical fidelity with the rest of the chain 10-15%. I reached that conclusion after comparing my high-end eqt (Theta and Goldman DAC) to my low-end PC. I think the only "variable" that changed b/w the two was the CPU. I noticed some terrible-sounding CDs on my high-end set became actually "listenable" on my PC after Intel introduced the Pentium 4. On a hunch, I checked the specs of the Theta DAC, and sure enough, its embedded CPU was a Pentium 2 or 3 (can't recall now - have to recheck). I would not go into the rest of my "discovery" - that would be on my blog in future. But for now, if you accept that the higher the processor speed the better the quality and faithfulness of music reproduction, then you'll agree that your lowly desktop speakers (with the PC's Realtek, Creative DAC audio chip, etc) can match if not surpass your more costly external hi-fi eqt in musical reproduction and quality. I'm assuming of course your PCs are using the newer multi-core CPUs while your external hi-fi set probably are still using CPUs that are 1 or 2 generation behind. Well, hard to believe me? I don't blame you, maybe something seriously is wrong with my hearing after all! Let's do an experiment. Why not try a "blind" listening test yourself? Better still, get your friend or sibling to do the A-B test, but don't tell them in advance what you want to do. Simply set both your PC set and the hi-fi set to the same config more-or-less (i.e. set the bass on the external hi-fi set to be about the same loudness level as your PC set), play the same CD on both (place CDs on your CD/DVD drive for the test, not mp3s), and ask them blind-folded which sounds better? Once you determine your PC set can match your external set, then the other variables come into play. That is, choose PC speakers for their musical quality as not all PC speakers are the same; same with the main board or sound card that is installed. I think Realtek audio chips are good enough, especially the recent ones, and I go for Logitech speakers. Which I find very good - I was floored when I listened to the 2.1 set! Cost me only $60-70! Do the blind-fold test please, and tell me I am wrong, ok? Then I'll know something is indeed seriously seriously wrong with my ears or brain!!

Yes, agreed. Be sensible. That's not-so-obvious, right? hahaha

Yes, you should do what steelze and diva79 suggests. Both hv gone thru the ID route and shared to help newbies. Read their blogs, I did and was impressed with their sincerity and desire to help. Also, mae29 has an excellent blog too with good advice. You will benefit from reading these resources to know how you should proceed. All the best!

Excellent location! Hope you find a buyer soon. Just bought mine abt 3 yrs ago, with MRT nearby. Very convenient and worth it too.