Here's a new thread for everyone! If you are thinking of buying something new - a car, MP3 player, camera, computer etc you can post here and ask if anyone already has it, what it's like, and if there are any problems with it etc before you actually spend your hard earned money! I know there's tons of info available on the internet, but there is something nicer about information that comes from friends, somehow.

So, I am looking for a new camera and I quite like the look of the Canon Powershot S3 IS. I've looked around online and at tons of reviews, but I want to hear from anyone who actually has one whether or not it's ok.

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Great thread vik,
sorry don't know any thing about powershot,

however would like advise, can anyopne advise me what pen and tablet to buy ?

(Nice thread Vik!)

I've been recommended to get the Wacom Graphire4 on countless occassions. The "4" relates to the size of the tablet. Likewise there's a Graphire6 too.

See here for more specs

And here for prices.

Hopefully I'll be getting one of these in the next few weeks =)

(And that S3 IS camera looks great Vik, but I'm no expert)

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Does anybody have any experience with the HTC pocket pcs? I'm looking into buying an HTC TyTN (a.k.a. O2 Trion and Qtek 9600, depends where you buy it, but the product is made by HTC). I've read great pro consumer reports, but there's nothing like first hand user experience to rate a product.

Any other recommendations on pocket pcs that work on gsm networks?

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Wacom are the industry standard jewels - really can't go wrong with them. I know Ozzette had some issues with her pen, but they replaced it for her. Personally, I use an ACECAD Flair.



Cost me about $80 AUD - at today's exchange rate that's about £32.83 GBP

I really like it. I t hasn't improved my drawing any - but it's better than using a mouse.

Vik - dunno - I was a big fan of Canon's SLR cameras, but as far as digital goes Kodak is punching out some really great stuff at the moment for really low prices - IF you are not a technophile or camera nut. The advantages of their EasyShare system are great, as you can recharge, transfer pics to your computer and even print direct from the camera.

Recommend getting as high a Megapixel as you can afford, with as high an OPTICAL ZOOM as you can get - Digital Zoom isn't usually worth a pinch of sh♥t in a thunderstorm (or any other time).

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Cheers guys, I didn't realize that they worth that cheap.
I do recall ozzette having problems with hers, glad they sorted it out,
I will get 1 soon, but was hoping it would improve my drawing skills.
After nearly 2 years I feel I'm almost ready to moved out of the uk easy rooms

I had a good look at the Kodak EasyShare Z612 - it actually looked quite nice and I was going to buy it - 12x zoom, 6 MP - and image stabilization which is important for me - not too much noise etc. And the price is very nice! The thing that put me off (apart from the fact that whenever I asked any experts they turned their nose up at the name 'Kodak') is that there is no internal battery, which means everytime you charge the camera, you end up resetting the date, time, any preferences etc.

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I'm using a Z740 at the moment - 5Mp 10x Optical and (ugh 3 x digital) zoom. It takes the standard Kodak digital rechargeable battery and if you're not in a position to recharge - most department stores and camera shops will sell you a non-rechargeable to get by on.

Experts are just that - experts - they all have their own preferences and biases - just something to ponder - Kodak have been building cameras a lot longer than anyone else has.

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Let me state my case first: I can't draw.

With that in mind, I didn't want to spend large sums on a tablet but I did feel more comfortable using a pen rather than a mouse when it came to drawing my stickmen... so I got a Volito. It's made by Wacom but it doesn't have as many features as a normal Wacom tablet, like high resolution or rotation, but if you're mostly going to draw on iSketch, then it will do fine! (Plus it's less than half the cost of a standard Wacom of the same size; they have them on Amazon.)

'tis true... Your drawings are a pile of crap

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I bought my tablet off of ebay for $70 it works well and i haven't encountered any problems yet.. i dont know what brand it is but its 12x6 and it works very well

The PlayStation 3 is being released in the UK tomorrow*. Retail prices are VERY high - Just over £400!!

It seems we're quite slow in receiving the goods over here in the UK.

It would be interesting to see if that kind of money is worth it (which it definitely isn't). Has anyone got one? (In America?)

I for one, won't be getting one. Not yet anyway

* Subject to further delays

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I don't own one, but my brother in law does. I t ' s f r e a k i n g a m a z i n g. Best thing i've ever seen or played with. Try gran turismo 5, can't do without that one if owning a PS.

He also has an xbox360, and it doesn't quite compare in functionality, but it's good to play Ghost recon advanced warfighter.

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When I do get one, It'll only be because I want to play GT5 and the latest installment of Tekken, and also the new Metal Gear....

After these games though.... I probably won't play it that much.
Hmmm, maybe I won't get one after all.....

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Thanks for the advice BM - I plumped for the Kodak because of it! I decided I was being silly, getting carried away with names, and decided to save some money instead.

I'll let you know how it is when it arrives :)

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Kodak is a very well made brand of camera, i know loads of people that have all different kinds of kodaks, im sure you made a great choice vik.

OK now I would like some CAMERA advice (if anyone has any). I want to buy a reasonably priced slimline digital camera. I want something that I can shove in my pocket when I go out for a few beers or to a function where I don't need my good camera and tripod.

Seems that most of them have 3x Optical Zoom and they range from 5 Megapixies right throught to 8 Megapixies.

Any suggestions? Make and Model with comments so I can go look.

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I have an HTC Charmer. Its pretty low spec for a pocket PC (and somehow t-mobile have managed to disable WiFi SDio...) but its the best damn phone doodad I've ever had. Its a PPC, its a phone, its a mobile internet browser, its an MP3 player, its a movie player, its a camera, its a SatNav, its a games machine (PPC and emulators). Its just pretty damn great.

Can you tell I like it? Had it over a year and not even thinking about changing it. Used to change my phone every few weeks. heh

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BM - The Canon SD700 IS Digital ELPH (IXUS 800) has a good review, along with a fairly hefty price tag. It's one of the better silver snappers - it has image stabilisation which is great. It's got 6 MP, 4x optical zoom - a little bit of noise at low ISOs but seems most cameras have that problem. Good little all round camera and works pretty well on auto setting, apparently. Just a bit costly. ~200 GBP

There's a few Panasonics out there which also have IS (yes, I am a big fan of Image Stabilization on digital cameras) The DMC-FX9 has some nice reviews, medium/high priced, 6MP 3x zoom as you'd expect, and a good battery life. There is no optical viewfinder, don't know if that would be a problem. ~180 GBP

The Panasonic DMC-FX10 has the very important feature or being available in pink, yay! It's new out this year, so not many reviews available. I think it's priced a little lower than the FX9, but honestly, I can't find it anywhere but American sites, so maybe it's not available for the rest of the world yet.

Casio also have a kind of IS equivalent called anti-shake. One of their cameras with this feature is the EX-Z700 - an extra MP for a lower price. Good reviews - seems fine. ~150 GBP

If IS isn't your thing, I'd just go for the Canon IXUS 60 (Canon PowerShot SD600). We have had the IXUS 40 for a few years now, and it's a lovely little holiday snapper. Ours has 3.9 effective MP and that's just plenty - we often blow pics up and the image quality has never been compromised even with just under 4MP, so with 6 you're laughing, unless you want to blow up tiny portions of a picture. ~160 GBP

Even cheaper, with the same stats, is the Casio Exilim EX-Z60. Also has great reviews. Anti-shake. ~ 130 GBP

Samsung Digimax i6 also has this anti-shake thing, great reviews and the stars you'd expect. It's the cheapest decent one I have found... but it's butt ugly. Nice and small, though. ~120 GBP.


So, there you go - 7 good cameras to choose from, all with great reviews. All are ultra compact and fairly light so Mrs. Bad wont complain too much when you ask her to carry it in her handbag (pfff shove it in your pocket, yeah right :P) If you're not bringing a tripod, I really would go for IS. I haven't tested this anti-shake thing yet, it'd be worth playing around with one of those casios in a shop I think, to see how effective it is. It's certainly the cheaper option.


For tons of reviews and full lists of specs, see http://www.dpreview.com/ although beware, for some reason they call optical zoom, digital zoom!

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Just a quickie....

Does anyone know of some good parental controls to prevent their children from going to places where they shouldn't be on the internet? Also, I am looking specifically at tracking emails and maybe even shadowing their internet activities.

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There's tons of online nanny services. Here's a list of the most popular ones. Cyber sitter seems to be the best, but net nanny has better features i think, and is about 5 bucks cheaper. All of them include email and site tracking, not sure about proxies though, but they feature website blocking, so you can just block proxy sites. Check the product descriptions and see which one you like best. They all cost $30-40.


http://www.solidoak.com/ (cyber sitter)
http://www.netnanny.com/
http://www.cyberpatrol.com/
http://www.softforyou.com/

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you can always try hovering around your kids

Aww.. thank's 2.0!! Cyberpatrol looks pretty good

((hugs))

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This may seem like a silly question but i know nothing about computers so here goes........

I'm looking to buy one of those USB flash drive thingies so i can save stuff on it and carry it around with me.
How big should i get it if i want to store loads of photos on it? Would 1GB be enough for say.....100 photos?

I saw this one for a tenner: Clicky

Any help would be much appreciated!

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