Take-a-town Edinburgh.

ON THE TOWN

* Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, was built in the 7th Century by Edwin, King of Northumbria. The name is derived from `Edwin's Burgh'.

* In the 11th Century, King Malcolm III Canmore built a castle in Edinburgh and his wife Queen Margaret built a chapel

* By the end of the 16th Century, Edinburgh was established as the capital of Scotland.

* After the Act of Union of 1707, Edinburgh ceased to have its own Parliament.

* Author Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850.

* The Royal Yacht Britannia moved to Edinburgh its final destination in 1997--now a major tourist attraction.

Sales synergy

This BT Retail corner store in Princes Street was flooded with sunlight. Within seconds of locating the DECT range of handsets, a saleslady had joined me.

"Are you looking for one with an answer machine?" she asked, pleasantly.

I wasn't but the saleslady carried on asking questions and gently probing my needs. "Is it just the one handset that you need?".

A Synergy (58 [pounds sterling]) had been her first suggestion, but she switched to the twin pack handsets when she heard I was looking for a couple of phones.

I was curious to find out what the other end of the price range had to offer. Another Synergy (109 [pounds sterling]) was next--although a mobile handset sized Samsung (199 [pounds sterling]) caught my eye.

The range on all the phones, she told me, was 300 metres "in perfect conditions" outdoors and 50 metres inside the house.

So what was better, the Samsung or the Synergy?

"The Samsung is a very good phone," she said, "but you're probably paying for the styling."

Next on her suggestion list was a hands-free Samsung phone (169 [pounds sterling]) with an additional handset. Continuing her tour of the display, a BT Diverse (79 [pounds sterling]) with text messaging facilities was next. Plenty of enthusiasm and ideas to think about here.

Phone a friend

A large Dixons showroom with plenty of salespeople on duty.

At the back of the store I found the Sky+ display. A few minutes later, salesman Ed spotted me and asked if he could help.

"Here's how to pause live TV with it," he said. Pressing the pause button he showed me how using the next TV as a comparison, the programme could be held back.