Camera shopping

I've been looking for a new digital camera recently to replace my 3 year old Sony Cybershot DSC-P72. While the resolution (3.2 MP) was sufficient for my needs and I enjoyed this camera in general, I found myself no longer wanting to take it anywhere because of it's size(14.8 cubic inches). Then I was in CompUSA recently waiting at the customer service desk which happened to be right next to the cameras. I couldn't help but just look although I had no thoughts of upgrading really. One of the first things that caught my eye was the Sony Cybershot DSC-T5 (7.1 cubic inches) due to it's size and price. I couldn't believe a tiny camera like this was only $250 these days! I gave $330 for my old camera. Looking more I found the Sony Cybershot DSC-T9 (6.3 cubic inches) which was even smaller, had higher resolution, and image stabilization. Online, the price was only $50-70 more too!

Well, this just got the wheels turning, and I started reading reviews and looking around some more. As it turned out, the flash was a bit weak and the image quality slightly lacking on the T9 from what I read. After thinking more, I realized I should really buy a camera that supported SD cards. Then I could take the SD card, pop it in the Treo, and email pics on the go if I wanted. Not to mention I really should try to be consistent and stick with one card type if at all possible.

Based on these 2 considerations(SD and camera size) I continued my search and ended with 2 options. Well, maybe 3. There were others out there, but for whatever reason, styling, etc, I just wasn't interested in them. The finalists were...

Casio EX-S600

Canon Elph SD600 (or 630)

The Casio was desirable because it is really small(5.2 cubic inches) and uses MPEG4 video to provide very good, and LONG(about 25 minutes/GB) video recording capabilities. However, the reviews were a mixed bag. Some claimed poor image quality and other issues. The screen was also smaller with lower resolution. This was noticible when looking at it in the store.

The Canon SD600 seemed to be widely regarded as a really good camera with excellent picture quality. However, it was a bit larger(but still small at 6.1 cubic inches) and could only provide 8 minutes of high quality video per GB. The SD630 differed only by offering a larger LCD, slightly different controls, and being physically larger(6.4 cubic inches).

As you can tell from the numbers, all of these cameras are MUCH smaller than my old camera. Based on the size, positive reviews, solid reputation of Canon cameras, and the advice of my fellow BrotherOnTech :), I finally settled on the Canon SD600 which I ordered from www.zipzoomfly.com. They offered an excellent price and cheap shipping. I'll let you know how I like it.

MS Exchange/4smartphone

I had heard of Microsoft Exchange, but I didn't know anything about it until recently. As it turns out, it provides an awesome solution for keeping email and other PIM(personal information management) data in sync on multiple systems.

I found myself using 2 different computers as well as a Treo. Checking the same email 3 times seemed stupid and I was always worried I'd sync something wrong and mess up all my data. Microsoft Exchange solves this problem by managing all the info on a centralized server for all your systems to access. This software is expensive and difficult to manage so is typically used in corportations and such. It's not typically a personal solution. That's where www.4smartphone.net steps in. There are other solutions such as www.mail2web.com, but 4smartphone supplied the right balance of features and price for what I wanted. These services offer hosted Exchange services for personal or business use. They handle all the software and servers. For $6.99/month, 4smartphone keeps all my computers synced up and they even threw in a free copy of Outlook 2003. This covers the price for a year of service just by itself.

So now, if I check email on the laptop, read an item, and maybe put it into a certain folder, I'll see it as read and tucked into a folder when I check mail again on the Treo or my desktop. No more looking at the same mail 3 times. Or I can add a task or calendar entry on any device and the other 2 see that change also. AWESOME! Also, it's kinda weird, and I'm not exactly clear on how this works, but you don't have to initate a send/receive in Outlook anymore. It just updates anytime there's something new on the server. Apparently, the Exchange server notifies the clients that are logged in anytime there's a change and pushes that change out. On the Treo, Activesync is used to connect to the Exchange server in the same way. Everything is automatic and pushed to the different devices.

I have found this to work wonderfully and highly recommend it.

Our First Child

This is the one of the latest photos of my little girl!!! I know this has nothing to do with tech but look at her. She is gorgeous!  

Sync?

I use 3 computers regularly.... a work laptop, a home desktop, and a Treo. I've been trying for awhile now to get all my email and PIM info synced on all 3 at all times. I've got everything in Outlook but still haven't found the perfect solution. I switched from POP to IMAP a few days ago. That's a big help with email. Now I'm trying hosted exchange server with www.4smartphone.com. It looks promising so far, and there's a 15 day free trial. What do I have to lose??