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Advice, they say, is cheap. Good advice, on the other hand, can be extremely valuable.

When it comes to electronic devises of all sorts, including computers, operating systems, software and gadgets, the one fellow who always dispenses sage counsel is our own Jack Kapica.

Each week Jack reviews consumer electronics products, software or computer peripherals for the Personal Tech section of globeandmail.com. His feature is called Kapica's Lab and in the past few weeks he's reviewed the Slingbox Pro and Apple TV, password managers for users with a dozen different aliases and Rogers new videophone.

This week, Jack looks at audio/video devices that can solve annoying viewing and listening issues with popular home electronics machines.

So now that you have his attention, ask Jack about whatever personal tech issue you're currently grappling with. He's taken Windows Vista and Office 2007 around the block more than once, has numerous recommendations for photo editing software and might even be able to suggest what mom might like this Sunday.

Jack Kapica was live online for an hour Thursday to take your tech questions. Read the transcript below.

Jack Kapica has been writing on technology for the past 15 years for The Globe and Mail, and has been working exclusively for the online Globe since 2001. In his Cyberia blog, he writes news, opines on the latest rumours and offers opinions on culture and developments in technology.

Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length, clarity or relevance. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.

Michael Snider, Technology Editor: Hi Jack, thanks for being with us today. I want to go back to your Apple TV review from a few weeks ago and get some general thoughts on how you write your reviews. You took a lot of flack from Apple aficionados even though, IMHO, the piece was balanced and pointed out the good and the bad. I wonder if it would help readers to get a sense of how you go about reviewing products, how long it takes, what sort of things you do to put hardware and software through the wringer.

Jack Kapica: Hi Mike, and thanks.

With Apple reviews, there is no such thing as good and bad. There's just good. And heaven help you should you use adjectives that are less than superlative, or the banshees come out of the woodwork and give all Apple fans a bad name.

That said, my reviewing process is pretty straightforward. I try to use the product in an intuitive way; others might call it the non-RTFI (Read the f... freaking instructions) method. After all, ease of use can no longer be sacrificed on the excuse that the technology is simply too hot to keep off the market.

If it doesn't work, I'll poke around and read the effing manual, praying it was not translated from the original Chinese by a Taiwanese computer with political biases. And if that doesn't work, I will assume I'm doing something bone-headed and call the manufacturer and ask. Life's too short to read all those manuals cover to cover in bed.

My big issue with Apple TV was that its most marketable feature — the ability to buy and play movies and TV shows — is not fully available in Canada. That leaves you with generic or home-made content, and Apple TV is a little expensive for that. A lot of people who objected to my review said that indeed I could do slide shows on my Windows machine, but for that I needed Adobe Photoshop Elements, which is not bundled with Apple TV. And that made another problem — after losing the movie-and-TV download feature, you needed to buy extra software to run a third-level feature on an expensive box.

In short, my trial was a series of disappointments, and they were directed at the product, not the manufacturer, except when it was a case of Apple not negotiating a distribution deal with Canada.

There are other products for Windows that do what you can do with Apple TV in Canada, and they're cheaper. So I concluded I was disappointed by the product.

Ask me again when Apple signs a Canadian distribution deal.

Dale Lazar from Vernon writes: Hi. My emails were not coming in from server so I renamed folder and new emails came in but I've lost my old ones. Where and how do I recover them? I am running Windows98se and outlook express. Is there a maximum amount of space to store emails and where can it be adjusted - (increased or decreased) if possible? Thanks!

Jack Kapica: Hello Dale,

Wow! Outlook Express on Windows 98 SE — you've got a museum-grade setup there.

The problem with Outlook Express (OE) is that although it was easy to use and most people's first e-mail program, it scattered its files all over the Windows kingdom, some of them considered to be "system files" and therefore hidden from casual file searching, which makes it hard to diagnose problems and even migrate old e-mail to a new system.

It will also make it difficult for anyone to diagnose your problem based on the little information you offer. Your best bet, however, might be hiring the right guy for the job: Yourself.

First, read and learn the OE setup from the Microsoft Understanding OE page, and the Inside OE site. The learning curve is steep, but you have to weigh that against losing your mail archives.

Then think in these terms: to find your old e-mail messages, search for files entitled *.dbx, which are hidden so you have to activate the "search hidden files" feature in the Windows Explorer advanced options (Windows Explorer under Tools->Folder Options->Views->Show Hidden Files and Folders). With Outlook Express 4, the folders will end in .mbx and .obx. There might be different versions of folders, because you changed folder names, such as inbox.dbx. Check out file sizes — the bigger ones should be what you're looking for. Note their location, then open Outlook Express and go to file—> import messages select "import for store directory" and then browse to the location you found you files in, click next and you should have your messages.

The DBX files should be located in c:\Documents and Settings\Username (your username)\Application Data\Identities\Microsoft Outlook Express.

I wish you the nest of luck. Just work on the assumption you haven't lost them; you just need to find them.

Peter B from Toronto writes: Is there any way that the earlier version of the PVR — the non-HD kind that instructs you how to save videos to your VCR — can be connected directly to a computer rather than just to the VCR? Perhaps through that USB port on the front?

Jack Kapica: Hi Peter,

I once called Rogers to ask them how to connect my PVR to the VCR, and was told it was very simple, though it struck me as unnecessarily complex. For reasons of time, I never tried doing it. What I recall is that it involved those RCA-type component cables, which is, after all, what VCRs are made to handle.

As are many laptop computers. I would hook the component cables Out of the PVR and Into the VCR, and then run the captured video. Yes, Rogers said it had to go that way, in real time. That's why I had so little time for it.

You know, it wouldn't hurt to try the USB port — I've heard conflicting reports about whether Rogers has activated it. Or perhaps it was not activated on one model and activated on another. Whatever happens, I'm sure your computer or your PVR will not blow up — you'll know soon enough whether it's working.

To hook up the component cables to a desktop computer might be more difficult, depending on your graphics capabilities. If you have a graphics card, chances are you will have component connections. If it's a chip on the motherboard, my bets will be off.

I'm afraid I have no experience with satellite boxes.

Noel from Toronto writes: Hi Jack, when are we going to see the end of the cell phone as it currently exists? With BlackBerries, iPAQs, etc. now offering email, cameras, phone, etc. do phone-only devices have any future?

Jack Kapica: Hello Noel,

Oh, heavens, I hope they never disappear!

Personally, I use only two new features on the new Smartphones: e-mail and surfing the Web, and then very little surfing. As for the other features, I became heartily sick of the outrageous fees being charged by cellphone operators for digital transactions. I even configured my BlackBerry to send me only headers in e-mail, so I would be spared the fees on the massive volume of stuff I get. If I want more, I ask for more, otherwise I let it alone.

I suspect we're still living in the "early adopter" stage, with people buying them for their novelty value or for the social status they entail. But at some point people will start protesting the massive cellphone bills, especially parents, who will insist their kids get a less feature-laden unit next time. Or maybe the cellphone operators will sense the disillusionment and drop their prices.

As an example, I once installed a program called WorldMate on my berry. I had to pay for it — something like $20, I forget exactly — and that was for only one year; after that, I had to re-subscribe. And I'm certain I was also getting charged for the data I was requesting for it. It's just too much for one application that tells you flight schedules and local time in different zones as well as the data charges.

For the old-style cellphone — "Do you have one that only makes phone calls?" — to disappear, cellphone providers will have to drop their prices (which The Globe itself reported a few months ago were twice what Americans paid for theirs). Otherwise, as the cellphone operators keep fattening their profits, we will see them stick around.

As it stands, I believe that e-mail and phone represent the lion's share of cellphone use, with the rest being largely frivolities. But to do both e-mail and voice, you do need two networks (data and voice) and that means using a smartphone.

In sum, I think the cellphone will not disappear, but fall into niche status.

Michael Snider: Thanks Jack, before we go, give me an idea of what's on the agenda for the next couple of weeks.

Jack Kapica: Whoah, Mike, that's a big question.

May is Hearing Month, and I've been looking into the technologies they're cramming into hearing aids and other items for a population raised on the Sony Walkman and Apple's iPod; a lot of them have damaged their ears with these.

I'm also looking at what's happening to graphics suites. Over the past three months we've seen new stuff from Adobe, Microsoft and Corel.

And then there is remote-control software, new anti-virus suites for Vista, and a truckload of new cellphones ... It's threatening to take over my house.

So brace yourself.

Jack