Advantages: No need to book in advance
Disadvantages: I couldn't find any disadvantage

...If you live in or near Northampton and you need to get your car MOT tested you can do no better than visit a new “drive through” service and MOT centre in the town known as IN-n-OUT. This company is relatively new and at present has two sites, one on Kettering Road the other in Far Cotton, both in Northampton. The idea is amazingly simple, just turn up and have your car tested. There is no need to pre-book an appointment. If this sounds good, there is more. This company can also give your car a quick service but be warned, this is not a “handbook service” It doesn’t cover things like plug change, or brake adjustment. What it does cover is the following: oil change, oil filter change, and top up of coolant, screen wash fluid, power steering fluid, tyres pressures are checked and inflated where necessary. Steering is also lubricated... Read review

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Advantages: Gets you from A to B. The independence! The freedom!
Disadvantages: People always want a lift! Can be a stressful task, learning to drive...

...will perhaps make experienced drivers see just what they make us young-uns do. Part 1- The Theory Test Hasn't technology changed the way the world is run? Theory questions used to be asked by the Driving Examiner in the seat next to you during your test. Instead you now need to go to a special theory test centre where you have a touch-screen and some multiple choice questions. Computers! What is the world coming to? You get tested on questions based on the Highway Code, that incredibly tedius driving handbook. Small but densely packed with Do's and Dont's and tiny pictures. The second part is the Hazard Perception Test where you must click a mouse at the first sighting of a 'Potential Hazard'. These can be difficult to define, but include sheep in the road, lorries pulling out of lay-bys and people swapping lanes in front of you. This part... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant for messing around on the water
Disadvantages: Rather reliant on the weather

..., and this is the one we would be given. We paid and also had to give a credit card impression for deposit, but this was quick and easy. The two youngest children, 4 and 6, were given lovely colourful life jackets to wear and the lady kitting the two lads out gave them stern warnings that they weren't to remove the jackets and must keep them on for the whole boat trip. Actually both boys loved wearing the jackets and because they were specifically designed for younger children they were comfortable and we didn't get any complaints all journey. We were then invited aboard by one of the centre staff and he asked who would be driving. He then went through the controls and rules and regulations of the waterway to my friend and myself, as we were the wife-elected drivers for the day! The boat controls couldn't be much easier, you have a throttle lever... Read review

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Advantages: Very Clean, Easy to get around, Lots of Space
Disadvantages: Too few shops,not on two levels,not that easy to get to

...The Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh which opened in October 1993 is one of 4 main shopping centres in Edinburgh. The others are Cameron Toll, St James Centre, Waverley Market(Princes Mall) and Ocean Terminal. There is also Westside Plaza but this isn't exactly what you call a main shopping centre and Straiton park,Craigleith(The Quarry) and Fort Kinnaird are all Retail parks. The Gyle is a approx a 10 minute drive from Edinburgh International Airport by car/taxi. It is approx a 30 minute drive from the City Centre depending on the time of day and the route you take to get there as it is often very congested nearby due to it being directly opposite Edinburgh Park(Home to the RBOS headquarters and a whole host of big companies) .The area round the Gyle is mostly businesses and there is are many houses nearby within walking distance... Read review

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Advantages: Very clean and plenty of variety.
Disadvantages: Approximately 15 minutes outside the City Centre.

...The Colombo Shopping Centre is located on the Avenida General Norton de Matos, Benfica, Lisbon. It is accessible by both metro and bus, and just a short taxi ride from Lisbon’s city centre. Opened in 1997, the Colombo Centre is Lisbon's newest mall, being the largest in the Iberian Peninsula. As well as a shopping centre, it also houses a leisure complex, with a multiplex cinema, health club, driving range, and bowling alley to name a few. The shopping centre itself comprises 420 shops, including a large Marks & Spencer and a Fnac superstore selling almost everything from food to large electrical appliances – I found this store to be extremely inexpensive, especially on alcohol. The large stores are punctuated with speciality shops, selling goods such as local porcelain, jewellery, shoes, (leather items are very... Read review

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Advantages: Appearance of Interior, amount of shops
Disadvantages: Appearance of Exterior

...to the other stray arm) with the shops on either side of these corridors. There are also stalls in the centre selling health foods ans such. The Centre also has a multo-storey car park with colour-coded parking "lots", recognised by items of fruit. Its easy enough to get around, but always full. Now if you ever wondered how goods get into the shops themselves inside a centre like this, the Kirkgate Centre makes no attempt to stop you getting it's trade secret. As you walk along Kirkgate, there is a big hole in the side of the building labelled "Service Yard". Now, the big delivery vans drive along the pedestrianised area of Kirkgate, turn round backing into Link Telecom's window and into here. In here they just follow the signs to the store they deliver to and unpack. Easy as that! (Most times they don't snash through the window of Link... Read review

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Advantages: Slimline, Well Featured, Looks Good
Disadvantages: No Firewire, Not thought out properly

...ThinkCentre... Think Smarter IBM’s range of workstations have always been backed up with a long history, after all shouldn’t IBM be the experts, they did “invent” the PC after all! IBM’s ThinkCentre range represents IBM’s mid-range business workstations, enough power and multimedia capabilities to run the top end office and productivity, whilst keeping costs down to make the systems as affordable as possible. A hidden but equally important part of the ThinkCentres resides inside the computer and installed on the hard drives, these discrete design decisions and software packages that are shipped with the machines. I have recently installed 86 IBM ThinkCentre S50’s at work; this review is my attempt to distil my experiences into words. WHATS IN THE BOX? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the box arrives at your door, or in my case three... Read review

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Advantages: Good with nervous pupils, reasonable prices, discounts with block bookings
Disadvantages: Only one instructor

...minutes, which at first I was a bit anxious about as I wanted to get stuck in, but later on I realised it was good to have a break after a bout of driving, and it also helped me to relax when I was nervous. The day of my test, I was quite nervous, but the instructor was extremely supportive and calming. On pulling back in to the test centre, he was so worried he couldn't look out the window to see how I was doing! But when he found out I'd passed he was satisfied. One small disadvantage is that the instructor is often booked up for at least a week in advance, but I overcame this by booking at least two lessons in advance. This meant that it would never be too long in between lessons. * The Car * The website was a little bit deceiving in that it shows pictures of a different car. But, the actual car is a lovely model to learn in... Read review

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Advantages: Flexible, Affordable, Widely recognised, Looks great to employers
Disadvantages: Needs time, effort and money putting into it!

...centre when you pass each test) and a candidate number. You cannot take any of the tests until you have received and signed your logbook, as this holds the record of your tests. Once you do have it, you are ready to go. All you need to do is contact your test centre at least two working days before you want to take your test(s) to book it, then turn up on the day with your logbook and some ID (such as a driving licence or passport). I cannot speak for the paper exams, but the process I went through in taking the online exams was to sit an untimed practice test first (included in the price of the exam) before taking the real thing. You are permitted to do some extra study or take a break before the real test, but once it starts, you are under exam conditions - mobile phones off, revision materials out of sight, and no asking for the answer... Read review

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Advantages: Amazing sence of achievement, and FREEDOM!!!
Disadvantages: Very soon you become Mum's TAXI!

...on those. I would recommend that you allow plenty of time for this part, I had 43 lessons in all and I really needed that time to make sure I was a confident all round driver BEFORE I took my test so I wasn't wasting my time and money. And so my test was booked for 24 October 2006. Apart from practicing the manoeuvres many times in each lesson, we often spent much of the time just doing left and right turns, and driving through narrow roads with lots of parked cars to get me used to weaving in and out, planning and giving way, as my test centre is in the middle of a busy town centre. Two weeks before my test I had a serious attack of nerves, and everything went wrong in my lessons. I began to think that I was taking my test too early, but my ADI assured me that he thought I could pass if I had belief in myself. So in the very last... Read review

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