March 26, 2003
Confessions of a closet screen shopper.
Posted by Jess in
Geek Humor
Hello. My name is Jess, and I'm a closet screen shopper.
"Hi Jess!"
What is a screen shopper? I coined the term a few nights ago while realizing that one of my favorite things to do (I find it relaxing) is browse "toys" online that at the moment, I have no intention of buying. But I'd like to!
You can relate. It's those things that are always just a smidge out of your reach. I say smidge because you could be walking up to the store with credit card in hand, ready to buy.... and your transmission goes. Then your brakes go. Then you have a $900 vet bill while your ferret gets a IV smaller than a nip of alcohol.
Two things I currently don't have but enjoy browsing is laptops and digital cameras. I go all out, picking a brand and carefully reading epinions.com to see what others have to say. Never mind that it will probably be obsolete by the time I get around to buying one. Hey, it's still fun to look!
Right now, it's cars that I'm looking at, more specifically, a Mitsubishi Eclipse. My Pontiac has been in the shop since January (yes, I'm aware that it's almost April. My mechanic has all the energy talking to me on the telephone, but I'm convinced that he goes into a cryogenic sleep once I hang up). It went in for a tune-up. Don't ask.
Or maybe he's just busy screen shopping.
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So what digital cameras do you recommend? Maybe you can make some money as a consultant. :)
:-)
Don't tempt me there, Ed!
For anyone that just wants a nice inexpensive all-around great camera that's point and shoot, I definately recommend the Olympus Camedia D-380 2MP. It retails for around $150 - the value is fantastic. Matt is heading to Japan soon, I think we are going to get this for him to take with him.
It's the best inexpensive/easy to use camera you can get that will take quality shots at up to 8x10. Most of the other 2M cameras in that price range are max 4x6. One would need a Smartmedia card upgrade, but if you are just trying to take pictures here and there to digitize them, it's the best value. I've actually borrowed one of these before, and had no manual. I was taking pictures in minutes.
Come to think of it, no matter what Megapixel/quality you are looking for, the Olympus Camedia line will probably come out on top each time. There's the D550 3MP camera for about $245.
Again, the cons are a future purchase of a smartmedia card is necessary, and there is a delay in pressing the button and taking the picture, but it's worth it for the quality and value.
Geez, now I REALLY want one after writing all that. Thanks Ed. ;-)
If you're bound and determined to go the 2MP route, the Fuji Finepix 2800Zoom is really the way to go (if you can still find one, since it's been discontinued in favour of the 3MP 3800)-- 6x optical zoom (about 38-230mm 35mm equivalent). Some folks would have a quarrel with the electronic viewfinder, but us old SLR folks prefer them to a bad optical finder. (Yes, the included cards are never nearly big enough.)
But if you really want something "just" out of reach to drool over, you have to check out the Canon EOS-1Ds -- 11MP of "you can't tell it from film, except for the lack of grain". Prints beautifully at 24" x 36" -- doubling up the pixel dimensions does less harm to the image than trying to enlarge 35mm to the same size. (Oh, and I'll need an Epson Stylus Pro 7500 as well.) Let's see -- $10K for the camera body, another $15K for some "mine are bigger than yours" lenses, $5K for the printer, another $3K or so for the RIP....
It's really a good thing I like KD.
I actually looked at the Fuji Finepix... but it was still going for around $275, which was out of my price range for a camera. The main reason I want a camera is for everyday use. And I know *nothing* about photography, I literally point - and shoot!
Stan, you sound like you really know your stuff. Are you a photographer? Hobbyist? (I hate to ask, but I don't know what KD is).
I looked at that camera, I liked the multiple frames per second bit, though I can't see what good it would do outside a professional arena.
I can just see myself having a camera like this... getting it for when I go on vacations, and then being too afraid to go on a vacation for fear I'd lose the camera. ;-)
That must be one of those cultural things. "KD" is everyday Canadian for "Kraft brand Macaroni and Cheese Dinner", which was simply labelled and advertised as "Kraft Dinner" in Canada until very recently, and which is a staple of the starving student's diet. If I were to consider buying the Canon (and the requisite accessories), I might even have to consider KD an occasional luxury food.
As for the photography -- well, there was a time when I was going to be the next Ansel Adams. Or maybe Yousef Karsch. I could never quite decide between landscape and portrait. Unfortunately, I tried to make a go of commercial photography in the early '90s on the Canadian East Coast, just about the time that our economy snapped off and fell into the Atlantic. I do not wish to discuss the amount of money the bank and I lost on that venture. Suffice it to say that I am no longer in possession of the equipment I had back then, and that my current retirement plans mostly involve having a massive coronary during the retirement dinner itself ;o)
Believe it or not, this whole computer thing was a sidebar to the photography thing back then. I did some illustration and design as well, and sort of fell into the Pagemaker trap. When the web came along, I did some web design. One day, whilst toiling away as an underpaid freelance designer, it suddenly occurred to me that most of what I was doing had gone beyond layout and that I had strayed into the programming sphere. It also occurred to me that a moderately competent employed programmer could make a more comfortable living than an anonymous "look-and-feel" freelancer. Someone offered me an entry-level job working with "Notes" on a probationary basis back in October 2000, and I've been with the platform ever since.
So here I am -- a failed photographer who is as weird and complex as the software he works with. In the next installment, we'll look at my "drunken embarrassment to the Canadian Armed Forces" period....
Jess, if Matt is going to Japan, maybe Tokyo, any thought to waiting until arrival to check out the latest generation stuff at Akihabara? A digital camera is one of those things I'd trust buying there, if you know what you want. I was checking out digital cameras while I was in Hong Kong last week, but it seemed like most of what was available there was a little bit out of date. Volker (vowe.net) has me checking out the Casio Exelim (new one with 3 megapixel and 3x optical zoom). Seems to fit all my requirements, except for that $400 price tag.
So that's why I asked.
Great story Stan! I hope you are still persuing photography, at least in the hobbyist sense. If you truly love it that much... And you certainly made a good decision, at least in the computer sense... you're fantastic at what you do, which is apparent from the responses you gave on the Notes.net forums. :-)
Ed, that sounds like a great idea. Now do you suggest this for the prices, or for the fact that the technology would be cutting edge, or both?
Here's a good summary about Akihabara
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/tokyo/0085034515.html
"This is the best place to go to see the latest models of everything electronic, an educational experience in itself."
I'm going to start a new topic on my own blog about the digital camera thing. Household events have accelerated my need/prioritization for the new digital camera.
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the suggestion. It was finalized today. I fly out on the 14th of april for 10 work filled days. If rumors are true, I will working about 14 hrs a day at Toshiba! However, I am already getting used to it with my current work schedule of 10-13 hr days. We currently have a release of our software in Japan but coinciding with that is a show where we demo our software to new hospitals & doctors. As a result, people have been putting in alot of extra work to make sure all is well :-)
I think this blog will see a lot of posts from me (if i can get away from work for a bit) while I am in Japan. I will try to keep you "POSTED". To me right now, that was funny. I will look at that bad pun tomorrow and kick myself for writing something so dumb. These long work days are getting to me.
Matt
Oh boy this is music to my ears. This comment will bridge multiple topics. (See "How To Give Your Spouse a Heart Attack 101")...
Welcome to Kev's used car euporium or car lot.
Can I interest you in a used car cheap? I have a slightly used (by one dear) and abused (by one deer) Dodge Daytona, One luxury liner whoops I mean Oldsmobile, and one unarmored tank of a pickup truck.
Or maybe...
Kev's furry critter Nip and Shot Center
For $10 we pour a shot, for $5 more you can have it, but if you need to give it to your ferret (or cat in our case) a cool $35 total will do. If you expect the adorable little creature to survive afterward, the $900 at a qualified vet is probably the way to go....
By the way, what the #@!! is a Blog?, is it contageous? and can I get a shot for it if I see one?
