Digital Camera Advice

Dear DaLe,

Hello - I am a "first time user," and never owned a Digital Camera.  Regarding the purchase of a Digital Camera:

1. What brand should I consider buying?

2. Is 3.2 mil pixels suitable for general photography, or would a higher pixel be better?

3. As for Zoom, is a larger # better, or a smaller #, such as:  3.2X or 3X vs. a 5X or 8X?

4. What is the LCD and how does l.5" LCD compare to a 2 LCD or larger?

5. What other equipment do I need to install the photos on the PC?

6. What kind of photo card, batteries, and recharger would you suggest?

7. Is a 128 MB memory card sufficient for general picture taking?

8. Do I need a memory card "reader?"

Dee

Dee,

1. Buy a name brand, like Sony, Polaroid, Kodak, Canon, Casio, Fuji, Pentax, HP, Konica, Olympus, Samsung, or Nikon.  You'll get better service if you ever need it.
   • On the other hand, a brand you've not heard of will be cheaper, and maybe that's okay for your first camera, the one you're going to use to decide what you want next time — your 'starter camera', so to speak.

2. Yes, 3.2 megapixels is more than adequate for general picture taking.  I know, some self-appointed experts — or even some real experts — might argue and say, "the bigger, the better", but really, how big a shot do you want to save, and what kind of detail do you need in order to enjoy your pictures later?  3.2 mp will create an image 1600 x 1200 x 64,000 colors, showing every speck of dust floating in the air between you and the subject — if you need more detail than that, buy a 5 mp camera, or even an 8 mp if a rich relative leaves you a bundle.

3. As for zoom, bigger is better.  Buy the most you can afford.  Optical is better than digital; most good cameras will have both; buy the one with the biggest optical zoom in your price range.  Digital zooms in, but only on a portion of the optical picture, so detail is lost, sometimes noticeably.

4. I believe the LCD number just refers to the size of the viewscreen you're looking at, both in arranging and previewing your shot, and in viewing the finished product after it's saved to memory.  Again, buy the largest you can afford; you'll see more detail and get less eyestrain.

5. The camera will come with a connector to plug into your PC.  Make sure it has a USB connector at one end — older cameras used serial or parallel connectors, and they are not only slow, but Windows XP might not let you use them.

6. Batteries and recharger should come with the camera, or at least be listed in the owner's manual.  I'm big on rechargeable batteries; any camera that uses AA or AAA batteries should be able to use the rechargeable versions; get NiMH batteries, rather than NiCads.  The manufacturer already decided what kind of memory card the camera will use; it should be plainly stated on the box.

7. A memory card reader is convenient, but not really necessary if the camera has a USB2 interface.  If the camera interface is USB 1.1, get the card reader, and be sure it is USB2, or it won't be any faster than a wire plugged into the camera.

8. 128 megabytes of RAM is plenty for general photography; that's enough to hold 64-128 photographs, depending on the quality you've selected.  Of course, since RAM is still pretty cheap, at least compared to the high prices of a couple of years ago, buy the most that will fit in your camera — you'll eventually want the extra capacity.

Hope I've helped a little.

Dale

Monitor Question

Dale,

I'm running Windows 98 on a Gateway 2000 PC.  This morning I tried to wake up my computer, and it wouldn't.  When moving my roller ball to wake it up, it stays black.  I can see the cursor, and it moves around the screen — the icons just don't show up.  (Didn't know if that last part mattered...)

Do monitor screens go bad?

Linda

Dear Linda,

Yes, monitors go bad all the time, and they're generally not worth fixing, considering how cheaply you can replace one with a newer bigger better model.  But it doesn't seem to me that yours has failed, since you can see a mouse cursor on-screen.

You see, that last bit of info was VERY important!  If you have a black screen but can see a mouse cursor moving, that means your monitor is working fine, but you could be in a DOS session.  It just CAN'T be this easy, but let's pretend it is:  Even though you may not see the letters appear, press and release the [Esc] key, then type EXIT and press the [Enter] key.  That will end your DOS session, returning you to your Windows desktop.

If that doesn't work, pull the power plug, wait a few seconds, then plug it back in and touch the power switch as gently as you can to turn it back on.  (Old Gateways are notorious for having flimsy plastic power switch actuator buttons.)  Should start right up, though it might want to run Scandisk because of the power interruption.

DaLe

Dale,

It WAS that easy — maybe the cat fell onto the keyboard?

Thank you!

Linda

Scanner Driver?

Dale,

I've got a new PC with Windows XP and can't find a driver for my Mustek 1200 III EP flatbed scanner.  The old driver is for Windows 3.1x/95/NT; it worked on my Windows 98 real fine, but not on XP.  I've gone to the Mustek website, but can not find a Windows XP driver.

Do you have any suggestions?

Terry

Terry,

As Doc (Dave Dockery) told us once at a TBCS meeting (I think it was November 2002), scanners and printers are the devices most likely to need replacing when you upgrade to Windows XP.  If it's old enough that there were Windows 3.1 drivers written for it, I'd say there's a very good chance they're not going to bother updating the driver for Win XP — they don't think anyone is still using that model.  By the sheerest of coincidences, I also had a Mustek 1200 series scanner when I installed Windows XP.  I found a driver for it at DriverGuide.Com; they said it was for Windows 2000, so it should've worked, but no joy.  I'd suggest donating it to someone who still has Win 98 and buying a replacement that plainly says "Win XP Compatible" on the box.

Sorry I couldn't come up with a better (less costly) suggestion.

DaLe

ExpressCard Broadband

Dale,

As you may remember — and against your advice — I got a new Dell laptop.  Instead of the standard PCMCIA slots, it has one of those new-fangled "ExpressCard" slots.  They are about the same size, but the connector is different and the standard PCMCIA card won't slide all the way in and connect.  My problem is this:  I have an expensive Verizon Broadband cell phone modem card that's a standard PCMCIA type, and I can't use it on my new Dell.  I have searched around on the Internet trying to find some kind of adapter that will allow PCMCIA Cards to be connected to a USB port or an adapter that would convert the "ExpressCard" slot into something useable by standard PCMCIA cards.  Any solutions you can think of?

Skip

Skip,

I did a Google search.  Sorry, but I got the same results you did.  Every mention I found of "express card adapter" was a request for such, not an offer.  You're in the same pickle a lot of new laptop owners are in, and you're all out a mega-bundle of cash because the laptop salespeople didn't make the point clear when hawking their product.

DaLe

[This column was written in 2006.  By 2010, there were adapters on the market like Skip asked about, but they cost $50 — about the same price as a replacement modem card(!)]