Put your Geek Specs on

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Put your Geek Specs on

Post by Donut » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:12 pm

Ok, I'm getting a nice little bonus from Uncle Sam this year and am thinking about buying a Digital Camera.

Is it worth it to go bigger than than 3.2 MP? I don't plan on doin a whole lot of editing, but we all know how plans go.

What's the best brand?

Keep in mind:
Most use will probably be taking pictures of my drunk roomates.
Some pictures probably of baseball games or the such.
Digital Zoom = Bad (in my book).
Under 300USD a must, under 250USD means I get to eat this month.

Any suggestions?

Donut

P.S. - Any ideas other than a digital camera for me to waste my money on?
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Post by Raw » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:22 pm

I need an air fuel controller for my car, if you wanna get me that?

Otherwise, I have a sony digi camera that is about 2.5 years old. It's 2.8mp and does all the things I need. Still works good. I tend to usually lean towards sony if available.
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Post by Saladin » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:58 pm

I have been looking around for the last couple of weeks as well and the best brands would be Canon and Fuji.

Some very good sites to help you choose:

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

To be honest if you just want a simpel point and shoot camera that lets you take decent pictures of your drunk mates you shouldn't even have to spend more than $150.

Going over 3mp isn't necessary. 3mp is more than enough for regular photography.
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Post by Donut » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:50 pm

I'm a big fan of go big or go home...

I was looking at a Fuji S3100. The only thing that I'm concerned about is that it doesn't use Secure Digital (SD). My laptop has a slot for a secure digital card which would make transfer really easy. Now I'm sure the thing has a USB cable for transfer too which would be ok; but it'd be kinda annoying since my computer sits on a couch most of the time.

The other was a Canon A520. It's a little more expensive, but has Secure Digital. Actually now that I look again, I'm liking the Fuji more than the Canon.

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Post by Saladin » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:38 pm

The Fuji has Smart Media which only goes up to 128mb, where as SD has much bigger cards.

BTW i believe the only different between the Canon A520 and A510 is that it has 4mp instead of 3mp. 3mp is more than enough, so you might want to think if you want to spend an extra $50 on some extra pixels.

BTW you might also consider the Olympus C740 UZ.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_rev ... z_pg5.html

10x optical zoom and very good quality pictures for about the same price as the other camera's.
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Post by Donut » Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:14 am

128MB MAX!?!?!?! That kinda sucks. My parents 256MB card with a 3.1MP card gets about 80 pictures on Good quality. That's probably about what... 30 Pics on that camera?

I could probably deal with that... I'd rather not though. Is there a benefit to the xD over the Secure Digital?

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Post by Donut » Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:00 am

I looked a little more at the cards and they are XD-somethinorother; not the same as SmartMedia. They go up to 512MB (from what I can tell). But they are about 15 bucks more for a 256 card than a 256SD card. I guess it's not too bad for a one time buy, but I'm not sold on the xD yet. I really like the Fuji Camera and will probably do it anyway.

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Post by gm_al » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:33 pm

Get a 9-in-1 cardreader that connects to any of your USB 2.0 ports for under $20 and the problem of what media the camera has is solved. :P

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Post by Donut » Mon Apr 04, 2005 4:08 pm

Still waiting on a check, then I'm gonna get the Fuji Camera. On to my next money spending item.

My friend told me that I have to read the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. A box set of the first 4 is 20 bucks. On Amazon, if I spend 25... I get free shipping. Sooooooo........

If I were to read 1 Star Wars book (cause I know the odds of another Star Wars geek on here have to be pretty good), what should it be?

Go!

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Post by Raw » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:27 pm

Since we are on the topic of technology....does anyone know which is better: XM Radio or Siruis?
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Post by Lord Fredo » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:34 pm

I've only read one but it was a pretty good one that I liked a lot so I can recomend it, "Shadows of the empire". :book: :alien:

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Post by Lord Fredo » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:37 pm

Raw wrote: Rock out with your cock out!!!
:? Well now ...

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Post by Raw » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:42 pm

Lord Fredo wrote:
Raw wrote: Rock out with your cock out!!!
:? Well now ...
Do you prefer "Hang out with your Wang out?"

-Raw
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Post by Donut » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:12 pm

Ahhh... I knew that one was gonna be suggested. And yes, that was a good book, but I've already read it.

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Post by Donut » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:17 pm

One of them (XM I think) carries almost all of the Football games (like you care since you can watch them on TV, or go to the Stadium every week); so you could listen to the Raiders every week.

I think the main difference is that one is commercial free (ie. you have to pay for it [and it's expensive]) the other is free I believe (or at least cheaper). That's all the info I got.
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Post by Raw » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:27 pm

Well...from what I have found out....XM carries MLB, and Siruis does not. That is my main reason for getting it, so I can listen to the Twins and other baseball games during the day.

I guess I'll prolly get XM....
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Post by Donut » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:48 pm

Have fun payin like 12 bucks a month... MLB.com has live audio for a lot of games too for like 3-5 bucks a month. Don't know of the quality. I remember when I tried the MLB.tv thing they had some blackout issues with Brewers games here. But I don't think MN had too many blackouts if I remember correctly.
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Post by Raw » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:54 pm

Donut wrote:Have fun payin like 12 bucks a month... MLB.com has live audio for a lot of games too for like 3-5 bucks a month. Don't know of the quality. I remember when I tried the MLB.tv thing they had some blackout issues with Brewers games here. But I don't think MN had too many blackouts if I remember correctly.
Only problem with that is that my new job blocks every single web site that could possibly have some kinda sport associated with it.
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Post by Donut » Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:02 pm

Pay me... I'll send you scores. They may not be right... but I'll send them.

This would be a lot easier if you still had MSN. Now I end up talkin to Funty all day long...
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Post by Raw » Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:05 pm

Donut wrote:Pay me... I'll send you scores. They may not be right... but I'll send them.

This would be a lot easier if you still had MSN. Now I end up talkin to Funty all day long...
Yeah..I can pay you.

Yeah..I wish I had MSN still too. I would hate talking to him all day, he's kinda winey.
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