Gizmos Grabowski

Memory Prices Higher at FutureShop?

I was just reading about a worldwide glut in computer memory causing prices to drop.

I just wrote an entry in my Digital Camera Fan weblog about my mother-in-law wanting a digital camera, and that she would have to pay an extra $25 for a 2GB memory card.

I was in FutureShop yesterday overhearing a customer disappointed at the higher-than-last-week's-advertised price for 2GB SD cards.

And then it all came together: Was FutureShop upping its prices on memory cards during the frantic gift-giving season as a way to increase profits? I was used to 2GB SD cards going as low as $20 these days. Searching the futureshop.ca Web site, the lowest price is now $33, although you can pay $22.50 each if you buy a pair. (Give the other one to a friend.)

Even its price for the 4GB SDHC card, which had been as low as $56, has now shot up to $99. I checked out other electronics dealers, and found that FutureShop had the highest prices in 2 out of 3 cases. In order of lowest to highest prices:

Staples.ca
-- cheapest 2GB card: $30
-- cheapest 2x 2GB bundle: $20 each.
-- cheapest 4GB SDHC card (with reader): $49. (*)

LondonDrugs.ca
-- cheapest 2GB SD card: $30.
-- 2x 2GB bundle: not available.
-- cheapest 4GB SDHC card (with reader): $55.

FutureShop.ca
-- cheapest 2GB card: $33
-- cheapest 2x 2GB bundle: $22.50 each.
-- cheapest 4GB SDHC card (with reader): $99.

BestBuy.ca (owns Future Shop)
-- cheapest 2GB card: $37
-- cheapest 2x 2GB bundle: $20 each.
-- cheapest 4GB SDHC card (with reader): $79.

Walmart.ca (in store stock and prices differ from Web site)
-- cheapest 2GB card: $54
-- 2x 2GB bundle: not available.
-- 4GB SDHC card: not available.

(*) This is an advertised special, so take the ad to FutureShop, and pay just $44 (price matching, plus 10% of the difference).

Battery Chargers

Over on my "The Digital Camera Fan" weblog, C.C. asked these questions:

Q: I bought Energizer charger yesterday which includes 2pcs of 2000mAh battery. It does not say 'trickle charging'. So does it mean its no use to store the battery in the charger after charging while not in use for my camera?

A: Here's how to tell: after the batteries are fully charged, leave them in the charger for a day, and then feel them. If they feel warm, they are being trickle-charged; if cold, then not.

Q: The manual says 15 hours are needed to charge 2000mAh AA NiMH batteries. so does that mean i have to recharge it another 15 hours when batteries are drained after usage?

A: Yes. Next time, you may want to look for a fast charger, one that recharges in an hour or less. However, these chargers cost quit a bit more than the "overnight" chargers.

Q: Is it safe to store AA batteries in the charger while not in use?

A: Yes.

Why Wi-Fi Everywhere?

Stephen Wildstrom of Business Week Online reports on "Wi-Fi Where It Isn't Needed."

He describes the difficulties using Kodak and HP products with WiFi -- wireless acess to the Internet. This, it appears, is an example of the promise of liberating technology run its course and dropped off the edge of reasonableness.

He found the EasyShare-One (US$600 - steep!) camera was okay for sending photos to Kodak's online photo sharing service, Ofoto, and to printers. (The HP WiFi printer, he found, was terrible setting up for receiving photo files.)

But other than that, WiFi was hopeless:

- low-grade protection means that the connecting WiFi system has to have its WPA protection reduced to WEP. That's the way wireless networks operate: at the lowest common denominator.

- finding a WiFi network in public means entering in passwords, email address, etc using a tiny stylus on the screen.

- doesn't work with most public networks, which also require you to pay to use them.

In Mr Wildstrom's summary, using a cable or docking station is still the easiest and fastest. I can see, however, why camera makers fall for WiFi -- they are desparate to differentiate their products in a market where feature sets are almost identical.

$9 Digital Camera - Part II

Since the last post, I found that the DigiGR8 brand of cameras are made by Shuoying, which has a line of digital cameras, MP3 players, multimedia player, USB drives, and so on. They seem to be designed for OEM use, where another company adds their name to the product. Minimum order is 1000 pieces.

You can view the details here.

$9 Digital Camera

Our local Great Canadian Superstore (a supermarket chain) is carrying a DigiGR8 ("digi-great"?) digital camera for CDN$9.60. I snapped one up. Its made of transparent plastic, so you can see its innards. Size is just 2.25" wide, 1.5" tall, and 0.5" wide. It comes with a keychain, and is small enough for that purpose. (Click the thumbnail image at left.)

For the price, the specs are crude:

* Two resolutions: 352x288 and 176x144 pixels.
* 16MB RAM, holds 20 photos at the higher rez and 60 at the lower.
* 0.1 megapixel sensor.

There is no preview LCD for seeing the pictures, but there is a small text LCD that reports the current mode and number of photos remaining. Curiously, that LCD is located up front, next to the lens. Heck, it was the price of a USB cable!

The camera has several modes:
1. Delay -- takes a photo ten seconds after shutter is pressed.
2. Continuous -- takes a pictures non-stop until the memory is full or you press the shutter again. I think this creates an AVI "movie" file of the images.
3. How/low rez -- switch between HR (352x288) and LR (176x144) modes.
4. Flourescent mode -- switches between 60Hz and 50Hz.
5. Delete last photo and delete all photos.

The package also contains:
- leather carrying case
- AAA battery
- USB cable
- CD with driver and software

There's two pieces of software. One downloads the images; the other turns the camera into a Webcam. Both are fairly crude but work. Interestingly enough, the Webcam software appears to also work with the Snappy Video Snapshot, if you own one of those. (I do, but haven't tried it yet.)