At A2000 we are constantly are looking at either new items which we think will benefit the customer or improving our existing product range.  We also see the need for more up to date product information on our website so that the customer can make the right choice when choosing that all-important accessory.  We use a wide range of magazines in which to advertise so its important that our website (often the next port of call for potential customers) had all the latest info.  Our website not only shows all the relevant details for individual products but also has a gallery showing how our items will look in that home environment. Also we show items fully installed so as to give customers an idea not only what the products do but how they look when mounted on the wall.  Here at A2000 we feel that’s its that initial first look that’s the key to selling our products and take great pride in having the ability to catch not only the future customers eye but their imagination as well.  So again watch this space!!

I can remember in the late seventies / early eighties when more and more households were purchasing video recorders.  Buyers of Betamax recorders maintaining the superior quality of their machines whilst sales of VHS overtaking Betamax. The first machines were huge chunky affairs with buttons only a strongman seemed to be able to operate but once again after time these recorders shrunk in size and increased in features.  With the advent of the DVD player and then the recordable DVD player it seem the writing was on the wall for the old VHS machines but alas even today VHS recorders are still available (I wonder if anyone still buys them?).  Now it’s a battle between DVD’s and Blu-Ray players, which are being used as an integral part of that home cinema experience.  As peoples AV set up gets bigger they are increasing looking for a solution on where to place all this equipment and A2000 Systems has an ever increasing range of products which can answer those requirements.

Well after wednesday’s result the build up to yesterday was at times overpowering. But unfortunately after 90 minutes we were out of the greatest tournament in the world. I wont go into gory details but lets just say we should have done better!! On a lighter note it does seem like the famous British summer has started - Friday was a nice day, not too hot and the forecasters forecast a gloroius weekend with temperatures due to hit 28 yesterday. Am slightly dubious of forecasts as they do change every hour (remember the hurricane we weren’t getting back in the 80’s??) but stone me they seem to have got it right. These sunny summer days seem to make time slow down and doing anything seems just that little bit more taxing but thats whats its all about. Everyone crowds the beaches for the classic day out at the seaside complete with runny ice cream, sand in everything and sunburn - a town centre is not the place to be I can assure you on days like these!! Whilst it is nice to have the sun shinning as it is proven to do us the world of good it can be slightly overpowering when the old mercury nudges past 25ish (well for me it is) The good weather also triggers off our love of the BBQ with clouds of smoke rising from peoples back gardens across the land and the sweet aroma of burgers and sausages being overcooked. Who needs to go abroad when you can have it all here at home - so lay on that sun lounger in the garden, fall asleep and dream those dreamy dreams!!

Last Friday morning there was only one thing on most people’s minds - England V Algeria in the old Worll Cup.  I decided to watch the game in the pub as opposed to watching in at home (which usually involves my dad shouting various comments and directions at the players) and to say I like most of the English were not happy with our performance would have been an understatement.  It was 90 minutes of the most appalling footie I have seen recently.  England just didnt seem to have to the altogether to do anything (attack/defend or even bother to play)  Algeria weren’t much better - I dont know who was the worst??  So yesterday afternoon at 3pm was crunch time for our boys and the hopes of the nation rested on their shoulders.  Anything other than a win would see us on the next plane back to Blighty with our tails firmly between our legs.  What a difference from Fridays performance - the English public’s anger and a few strong words from Fabio brought a much better game from our 11.  Slovenia did play some good footie but we just were ahead in overall performance and a 1-0 win was just good enough (even though Slovenia lost it would have seen them go throught had it not been for a 1-0 win for the Yanks) to see us advance to the last 16.  Fingers crossed that we can build on the momentum and do ourselves proud as we are far from being out of the woods just yet.  Hopefully we get drawn against a smaller nation and really be on the road to the final - stranger things have happened!!!

Here at A2000 Systems we pride ourselves on producing top quality products that we feel the public will not only like the look of and buy but that they can recommend to their family & friends (word of mouth plays a bit part in the selling of our products).  The customers that have purchased products from us not only praise the fact that on-one else offers the range of Cable Managements that A2000 Systems do but also the quality and value for money of our products.  We feel we can offer a range of Cable Management Systems that should you change your LCD/Plasma; these systems can be changed so as to compliment that new look. Not only are we constantly striving to improve our product range so as to be able to offer an even better item we are constantly striving to improve the way it which we sell them.  This we feel is vital to continue growing as a supplier of well-designed and top-quality audio/visual equipment. So if you have brought or thinking about buying that new Plasma or LCD think of us and check out our website for all our latest developments and offers and why not tell all your friends about us too!

The TV screen is only part of the visual and audio experience so in reality should be looked at in a wider view. With the range of LCD and Plasma screens expanding seemingly by the month and customers spending a small fortune on that dream purchase its no wonder that the public overlook what they plan to do when after the screen is mounted on the wall. Having started manufacturing a range of brackets A2000 Systems saw the need for a unique solution to the problem of making your visual equipment blend in with its surroundings whilst at the same time being a practical solution to the often asked question of what to do with all those leads that come with the wide range of peoples personal home cinema set-up.  Our extensive range of Cable Management Systems are geared to be universal so if you decide to change your TV then there is no need to go and buy another cable management.  We pride ourselves on being able to offer fully functional and indeed stylish answers to all your visual requirements and are constantly adapting to meet future customer needs with all our products firmly merging “FORM & FUNCTION”!

With the World Cup in full swing some product manufacturers are using it in a way to revamp their existing items.  Sky have released some “HD World Cup Boxes” in a few trendy schemes.  Decorated in footy themes to hopefully recreate Englands 1966 World Cup win these colourful boxes would look good in any fans living room.  The designs are from such people as fashion guru Wayne Hemingway, cartoonist Gerald Scarfe and Brit actor Phil Daniels and priced at 250 quid they are well pucker!! 

Its good to see all the support for our boys over in South Africa and there seems to be not a shop in the high street that isnt flying a St.George’s flag or bedecked in small England themed banners.  Then there is the unmistakable sound of car flags fluttering in the breeze as people drive by.  Also its spot the house that also isnt flying the flag for England (theses ranging in size from tiny small ones to massive ones that seemed to be more suited to a flagpole! - and yes I even have one flying from my bedroom window)  About a week ago a car passed me and as it did there was the unmistakable sound of the african horn (apologies for not remembering what its called) that is causing debate at the tip of Africa - personally it does get abit too much after watching 90 minutes of play (it must be deafening in a footie stadium).  Well its the crunch game for the boys against Algeria tonite and fingers crossed we can produce a performance better in quality than the game against the USA and not be on an early flight home.  It seems that the minnows of the tournament are producing some good results so our boys need to be on their toes!!   COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone reads this they will probably disagree with some if not all of my choices as it is very much done to personnal choice.  Hopefully some of you out there will find some of my top 5 agreeable.  It is always difficult if not impossible to narrow it down to just 5 items but here goes (by the way these are not in any specific order!)

number 1:  “US Army Parka” aka the classic MOD parka.  I can remember being at school and seeing the 5 year kids wearing them (back in the early 80’s) and just had to have one.  However it werent till about 4 years ago that I brought one on EBAY.  It cost £25 - the hood was falling apart and it had a couple of repairs plus it is useless in the rain (bloody warm in the cold) but I dont care as it will never date.

number 2:  “Rayleigh Chopper”  Now heres a surprise (not) that I’ve chosen this classic item.  I had one back in the day and hated riding it because of all the things that were awful about it.  If you were over 5ft tall you seemed too big for it, the gears never worked right and the ride was not the greatest.  But all these things and others are what makes it such a claasic bike,  Oh to have a ride on a Chopper again!!

number 3:  “Porsche 911″  Being a non-driver it may come as a surprise that I have chosen a car but what a car.  As an exercise in design you dont get much better coupled with the fact that the overall concept hasnt really changed (a rear engined/rear wheel drive etc etc)  The new look Mini and Beetle are not even a patch on the 911 - full marks Dr Porsche!!  (Maybe one day if I win the lottery, a orange GT3 - sorted!!)

number 4:  “Nikon F4″  Having owned a very very well used F4s camera a few years back I still have a soft spot for it.  With the eye sight not what it used to be and using auto-focus cameras (both digital and film) the F4 sticks out as a true great.  Large, heavy, and noisy my old F4s was a joy to use and produced cracking pic’s.  Who needs digital when you get to have a go on a “mint” F4!!

number 5:  “Pony NFL trainers”  One of my brothers had a pair of these trainers.  I cant remember what colour his were but mine were blue+yellow.  They came in a multitude of garish colours (like orange and lime green) and were obviously designed to be worn by american football players but back then in the mid 80’s fashion didnt know any better.  The soles were covers in little rubber nodules (handy for extra grip when worn in town) and a huge tongue that covered the laces.  Will have to check EBAY to see if anyone selling a pair.

Well thats my top 5 - I have no doubt I will think of other items that I should have put on the list.  Let me know what you think (any comments good or bad would be appreciated)

Nowadays peoples living rooms can resemble a high tech gadget utopia.  With a choose of 3 types of flatscreen TV plus all the other gizmo’s like Blu-Ray and an assortment of games consoles maybe the only thing that is missing from the perfect set up is a computer with its web browsing and email capabilites.  Whilst I do like to have a few gadgets it would be nice to have everything all in one neat and handy package.  However Medion’s “all in one” Touch X9613 could be one solution to this question.  With its 24in multi touch screen it also features Full HD resolution which is a must in todays world.  It combines elements of desktop PC, media centre, games machine as well as a PVR which sounds like it has all the bases covered but on closer inspection its maybe let down by it not going far enough.  Being 24inches its a tad too large to have right in your face but move it away then its too far to use the touchscreen.  It has a fold down media bar which apes TV and PVR controls but it also comes with a remote control so the media bar probably wont see much use??  The X9613 gaming capabilites are reasonable however more demanding games will need to be scaled back so as to run at anything desent (not one for 1st person shoot-em ups!!)  Fingers crossed when Touchscreen games for Windows 7 become more available a greater choice can be had.  The PVR has a terabyte of hard drive which is more than enough for recording/pausing shows from Freeview/Freesat using its digital terrestrial or sat tuners.  Unfortunately you cant watch one channel whilst recording another.  Also the Freeview tuner is standard-def so its Freesat for HD.  Priced at £1700 this seemingly all singing and dancing package is only slightly let down by its tiny details.

With the iPad well and truly upon us now and the marketing bombarding us with what it can do to enrich our lives I am wondering how long it will take before the public are seen out with it.  First there was the iPhone which didnt take long before it seemed to be in most peoples pockets.  With its many abilities and apps (some seemingly pointless?) this nifty gadget has taken the world by storm.  Then when Apple released their equally natty Netbook again it seemed that the company had really tapped into a niche market.  However it didnt take long before other companies jumped on the band wagon and developed products of their own.  Even through these tried to “copy” what Apple had achieved there seemed to be something missing??  Whatever Apple release their have hit the nail on the head and others are only “want to be” contenders.  Now the iPad is being aggresively marketed worldwide how long will it be before others follow - one company thinks that it is a market worth investing in.  The JooJoo could be an alternative to the iPad.  Featuring a 12in capacitive touchscreen its slighty thicker at 19mm but still feels light and well built.  More of a friendly web-roamer than a full on tablet PC it comes in a £100 less than the iPad which may grab the attention of punters looking at an alternative to Apple??  Again time will tell if not only the iPad will sell but also if its going to have serious competition.