Computer Reviews

I bought these over a month ago from Amazon, and they are truly amazing. I've heard lots of computer speakers, and this set beats all of them hands down. There are some things you should know, however: (1) these speakers WILL work on the final release of Windows 95 (I bought a pair for my wife's computer which runs on the final release, and they run perfectly), but not on earlier releases; (2) they definitely run on Windows 98; (3) they run really well on Windows ME; and (4) they do NOT run with full functionality on Windows 2000. Altec Lansing has not developed, and its tech people claim they will not develop, drivers for the audio management software for Windows 2000. The speakers will work with limited functionality with Windows 2000, but they will sound no better than another decent set of computer speakers that cost less than half of these--you completely lose the surround sound capability of these speakers under Windows 2000. I switched my computer from Windows 2000 to Windows ME because of these speakers. They're that good.

As others have pointed out, these speakers are very high on the WOW scale. The quality of their sound is unequalled by all but the very highest end systems. They will transform game playing into a truly immersive experience. Watching DVDs will produce better sound for you individually than in most seats at the theatre.

But in a way, these speakers are TOO good. They don't require an audio card because they connect via USB, and therefore come with their own audio management software. This, Altec claims, is a positive boon. There's no need, they say, to buy a separate audio card if you own their speakers. Unfortunately, this selling point, while truthful, belies market realities. Almost every computer sold today already comes with an audio card of some kind. So, if, as would seem natural, you install these speakers by plugging into the USB ports you'll create an odd and frustrating anomoly in Windows. Windows will believe you have two audio controllers: the Altec Lansing speakers and your audio card. This can be frustrating if playing games, because, despite the quality of these speakers, you probably do want the sound to go through the advanced drivers on your audio card. But Windows will typically give preference to whatever device was added most recently. So if you were used to having the sound pumped through your audio card before you got the speakers, the act of plugging in the USB cables alone will automatically cut your audio card out of the loop. The upshot: goodbye Aureal--or whatever your preferred audio accelerator was.

So how can you get these speakers to work with your Soundblaster Live or other audio card? Easy. Unplug the USB connection. Better still, never connect them that way in the first place. It's a simple fix, but it makes no intuitive sense and is only barely mentioned in the manual. Altec Lansing went to such trouble to market the USB connectivity of the product; it's more than a little ironic that most users don't really WANT to connect it that way.

Also, do take heed of the very OS-specific nature of the product. It will ONLY run on a Windows 98 machine. Not 3.1, not 95, probably not 2000 (though you should contact Altec Lansing for confirmation on that), ONLY 98. Don't even bother thinking that you can somehow create a workaround. If you don't have Windows 98, don't complain when you have to send them back.

All this aside, though, this is a serious audio system for your computer. At the price, you won't find anything better.

Midrange and highs and very clean and crisp. Bass is also very clean and deep.
But I was not satisfied with bass at first. It was too low at low volumes, even with bass volume set at max. I tried to increase the bass using the equaliser that is built into mp3 player, but it distorted the music, it was distorted even at lowest volumes and it was distorted with othe speakers that I tried, so I concluded that it must be the soft equaliser that is messing things up. I was diappointed about it at first, I even went as far as ordering stand alone equaliser. But couple days later I found the solution to this problem. It turned out that (on mp3 player equaliser) you should leave the bass lever where it is and turn down the rest of the levers to get distortionfree bass. Than crank up the volume on the speakers.After that, I did got much, much more distortion free bass than I needed. (prologic mode cranks up bass even further)
In fact I listened music for 5 minutes at 30% volume with bass set up as described above and my next door neghbour showd up complaining about music.
I never even plugged in stand alone equaliser that I recieved.
I am completely satisfied with these speakers now.
You can get these speaker for a total of $100 at yahoo shopping.
It is dirt cheap for this much clean sound.
(I did compared them to Klipsch promedia thx 2.1 and think that midrange is more present (or live) in ADA890 and bass also goes deeper (no wonder ADA890 has 8" bass driver vs 6.25" in Klipsch)

I bought these speakers after reading nothing but positive reviews online, and listening to many different systems in the stores in my area. After getting these things plugged in, I was really amazed - they sounded so much better than the HK's that came with my computer. The bass was really good, tight, not really distorted. The highs were clean, a little harsh though, and the mids were fairly good.
That was about 3 months ago. Now that I've had some time to listen to just about all the music that I own on these speakers, I have noticed a couple of things that I didn't hear before, probably because I was still in that phase of being excited about my new purchase.
First of all, the sub is low-passed at 200Hz, and the tweeters are high-passed at 12KHz. But I think the midrange drivers get the whole frequency range. So when I play anything with a lot of low bass in it ( < 80Hz or so), this really distorts the midrange because they can't reproduce those frequencies very well. I noticed this one day when I had the sub level turned all the way down (by accident I think), and I found out why the mids were distoring. The other thing is, the sub does not have really great low frequency extention as I would like. For midbass ( > 40Hz or so) it is pretty good, but I really need sound in the 20-40Hz range for some movies and songs. The frequency response of the system only goes down to 32Hz anyway, not low enough for me sometimes.
Another thing, now that I think about it, was that when they did the specs for this system, they measured the wattage at a THD (total harmonic distortion) of 10%. That is a lot of distortion, so you will probably not get 80 watts out of this system (even though it does get loud, the people in my dorm can tell you that) unless you like a lot of distortion.
Now it might sound that I am unhappy with this system now, but I still really like it. For only (...) (what I paid) it was a really good investment, but of course it is not gonna rank up with higher end stuff. But for most of the things I use these speakers for, they are great. Just certain things are a little lacking, but I think I can stand that for now.

Simply put, I was blown away by these speakers (and continue to be, of course). Not only do they actually produce the "brilliant highs" they're advertised to, but the YSTMS50's also provide enough bass to be felt three rooms away. However, they won't jar your fillings - the bass is round, smooth, and precise. The best word I can find to describe the experience of listening to these beauties is "immersion." You just feel surrounded in a swirling vortex of sound. It's great.

Now, I'd be willing to pay a lot more for this kind of quality, and I was prepared for a hassle setting them. However, they were blasting out tunes in about seven minutes from bringing the box in from my front step, and I couldn't be happier.

These Yamahas are THE choice not just for CDs, mp3's, games, DVD's, and all other computer uses, but they can be hooked up to anything with a simple 3.5mm audio plug. My Discman has never sounded better.

If I could give these speakers ten stars, I would, but we'll have to make do with five. They are perfect.

These speakers are extremely good. The sound is very clear, the bass sounds very natural. Get them. I found them incredibly difficult to find, I searched over 20 sites until I finally got them. Amazon totally has a monopoly going on. But anyway, bottom line, get these as soon as possible, because I remember when they were available for like $80 and when I finally found them at like the 23rd site they were $107. But they were worth it. Maybe watch it if they reach like $200. But otherwise, yes.

This Labtec set amazed me. For (price), I did not expect the kind of quality I got. I compared this set to my old speaker system, a... Creative Labs FPS1000. Well I can safely say, although the price of this labtec is a little less than double the creative, its about 8 times better.

The subwoofer is built well, its heavy, in a strong wooden case to eliminate distortion. The base is extremely powerful. The only problem it suffers is that at some volumes, it tends to overpower the satellites. But this can be fixed by adjusting the level of the base.

The Satellites are very lightweight, sometimes, i wonder if they are too lightweight. But anyway, they sound great, very clear. There is a power button, volume control and headphone jack on the satellite, very convenient.

There is only one slight problem with this system, it comes with a flimsy manual. But, that isn't too much of a problem because it is very easy to set up. Thats why I give it 5/5 Stars.

I bought these speakers because I was tired of the pathetic ones that came with my PC. I got them home, uncrated them, and, just to give them a test, plugged them into an old CD Walkman. A month later, they're still hooked up to the Walkman and I'm contemplating another pair for the PC!

I was really suprised by the power this system pushes. The documentation is a bit sparse, but I'm led to believe that the whole system produces less than 40 watts. However, the sound is massive, largely in part to the 8" subwoofer which, at times, threatens to overpower the satellites. Not just loud, but clean sound, breaking up very little at top volume.

The only complaint I have is that the satellites are a bit bright and a bit weak in the midrange. Mostly I listen to reggae, so antually this sound works well, but I haven't found listening to jazz or classical as fulfilling. Still, you can't beat them and with a cheap Walkman CD player, I now have decent sounds in the bedroom.

If you ever find these speakers I strongly recommend getting some. I use these speakers with my computer and also as my sound system in my bedroom. Why by an expensive system when you can simply hook up these speakers to a portable cd player. Great buy for anybody.

When my friend saw them and heard them he then went out and got some. These are nice speakers.

I bought this camera a year ago as an upgrade from the P70 because I wanted something with manual focus and a higher resolution. I've been extremely satisfied with the picture quality, although a slightly faster lens would have made taking indoor pictures easier without the flash. The image quality is astounding; everyone around me is amazed at what this camera can produce. 5MP is plenty for producing decently-sized prints.

The camera works well with every computer I've plugged it into on a range of operating systems (Mac OS 8-X, Windows 98-XP,RedHat Linux 7.x) and shows up as a mounted filesystem that I can easily drag a drop to/from. I don't use the included software to edit images, preferring ImageMagick for quick edits or photoshop for more complicated work.

I would certainly reccomend this camera for anyone looking for capability beyond the basic point-and-shoot models. The manual focus and exposure settings are simple and relatively intuitive, and more complicated things like white balancing are properly available.

I would reccomend this camera for anyone looking for a digital camera, but still wanting to retain some of the flexibility of a SLR film camera.

Frankly, this IS an investment...you spending $1000+ for this camera plus some needed accessories. Few people will ever shoot 5 Mega Pixels (MP) shots every time, but serious (and serious amateur) photographers will certainly appreciate being able to produce stunning detail when the need arises. Look at images shot on your friends' 2 or 3 MP cameras...this level of quality is amazing...but you WILL want to exceed this occasionally, and (...) is the price you pay to get the technology NOW. A 5 MP head shot will allow you to EASILY discern individual hairs on life-size prints (as in 11x14)...it's truely amazing.

I looked at the Minolta Dimage 7...the auto focus zooms past the subject and back...it seems irritatiingly "loose", for lack of a better term. The Sony is a bit crisper in it's approach to auto focus, though not perfect.

Low-light shots are a challenge, but the viewfinder does have a tremendous amount of information available, including exposure "F" stops, shutter speed, low light warnings, etc. The true genius is that you can essentially operate the camera in a manual mode, quickly overriding the meter to compensate for the light in any situation...backlight, contrasty light, reflections, etc.

If you ever used a 35mm in manual in the old days (when you really had to KNOW photography), you'll love the control available. And younger photographers will find a whole new world in being able to make this camera do what most digitals will still not do...take the unusual shot.

The camera is well balanced, and rather sturdy. You will get used to the shooting position...give it time. My biggest complaint is that the zoom selection switch operates "backwards" to my taste. Intuitively, I want to zoom "in" pressing the "out" button (!)...

You have an adequate built-in pop-up flash...PLUS a PC connection for external flash AND a flash shoe! Slavery, anyone?

The memory stick is a bit of a hassle, but extremely convenient once you get over the struggle. Buy a small USB reader to use at work or home...I use the "Zio". And buy the 128 MB memory stick...nothing smaller.

There were early problems with "White Balance", as recently as Nov 01. Current cameras should be shipping with the factory fix, but Sony, to it's shame, STILL has no information on it's website detailing same, even though it required early owners to send the camera for a "free" repair. Not exactly good thinking for a $1000 camera.

The images are good, but I do have to compensate a bit in low-light. Based on shooting several thousand "test" shots with another camera, I'm happy with this one. It does the job and can satisfy both consumer and professional. Note that I do not plan to replace this camera for several years. Why? Because printer technology has not caught up to the resolution of the camera (at least for the home user) and no one really needs much more in a camera. Five Mega Pixels will generate a poster-size image with very nice quality...you won't be doing it often, but you'll be glad you did when you do.

I like it, and I shopped hard to ensure the most features with the best price. As with all electronics, find a cheap extended warranty. (...) . Cameras DO break.

Shop carefully for a CASE to put it in...the unique shape requires some thinking. I have 3. One for everything including cords and cables, one for the camera plus memory sticks, and a Sony brand "ever-ready" case. Depends on how long you're out and how fast you want to access the camera..at what level of protection. Think.

You'll want an extra battery. Perhaps a travel charger, otherwise you charge the battery by plugging the CAMERA in the wall (!)...thanks Sony. :-(

Buy a UV filter (58mm) to protect the lens.

This camera is expensive, and generally reliable - it's a Sony. Many features I have not detailed, and it has a superb 10x OPTICAL zoom (and a 2x digital). If you are thinking digital and want to not have to trade-up for a while, I suggest the Sony DSC-F707. If you love photography, do not buy a smaller CCD chip than 5 MP...even if you buy another brand. But I certainly recommend the Sony DSC-F707 camera for people to whom the image is important.

This is my first camera i ever purchased. It's great! I haven't had any complaints. It shoots great pics, the zoom is phenomenal, and the features are great. Its a quality camera

Dear all,

After a week of diagnostic and test-out the new Fujifilm FinePix S7000,
it has big improvement from the S602Z with so many cool features.
It worths the upgrade.

==============================================

Pros of S7000 :

00. 6 mega pixel effective 4G Super CCD.
01. Battery life increases.
02. Faster handling and performance.
03. Better AutoFocus in dark area.
04. Better buffer handling on saving pictures.
05. Power management and stand-by mode.
06. F button switching to photo mode.
07. DROF and Exif compliant.
08. USB 2.0 support.
09. Cable Shutter release support.
10. Simplified Chinese as language for operation menu.
11. Color is more detail. - in landscape for both near and far objects, 4G SuperCCD do a better job.
12. Multiple Exposure mode.
13. CCD-RAW Mode support (12 megabyte), recommended 6 MP Native mode JPEG (1.7 megabyte).
14. Super pixel detail in 12 MP Fine mode JPEG with firmware sharpening.
15. 640x480 vivid VGA movie mode that record AVI until memory card full.
16. Proudly made in Tokyo Japan/Fujifilm.
==============================================

Cons of S7000 :

00. Over-agressive decompression on 12 MP Normal mode, created noise.
01. RAW conversion software is a plugin to finepix viewer, instead of a standalone application.
02. RAF format is proprietary for s7000 with its own header, not compatible with Fuji S2 Pro.
03. Lack 24bit Tiff format in firmware storage format.
04. F button can be confusing, needs to be accustomed to.
05. Low light operation is still not perfect, but improved from S602Z.
06. Need the new F700 "Green Light" assisted AF illuminator.
07. Would be nice to have a REAL optic image view finder.
08. Missing ISO 1600 for Manual mode, or 1 mega byte Auto mode
09. Software provided does not have nice menu, everything is in HELP directory in HTML format.
10. Need the S2Pro Hyper Utility EX or similar to ship with S7000 that can be standalone
and adjust all the image properties BEFORE converting.
11. Does support FAT32, meaning 2GB CFII is the maximum size supported.

I already send all my concerns to Fuji support, if you have similar concern feel free to voice them
to fuji since fuji is not a company not listening as my experience.

I recommend this Proconsumer Digital Camera which has a nice-grab, sturdy body, super fast startup+performance,
and professional features to all Digital Camera lovers, and it will serve you well,
and take photo that match the professional level camera with price 1k to 2k.

Please start this discussion group so all owners of s7000 can discuss about this camera here,
always thanks DAVE for his site and providing a space for us here.

PS : I already get the command line set of tools to perfectly
convert S7000 CCD-RAW format with higher resolution...

I had the chance to tinker with this camera and had it set to 12MP, Fine, and soft sharpness as suggested by one reviewer here. Started taking pictures mostly outside without the flash. I was so delighted with the shots that I had them developed at a local Kodak processing center. 5 A4 sizes and the rest in 6X4s. This is a native 6MP camera but the shots taken at 12 MP can rival a 9 or 10MP camera without paying extra. The printed photos were just amazingly clean of noise and artifacts.

I suggest getting a circular polarizer with it because it just brings out more vibrant color to your outdoor shots.

I am so thrilled with the performance that I have started buying accessories for it to really take advantage of all its features.

The accessories I bought are
1. Adapter ring (I suggest getting 55-55 not the suggested 55-52)I bought mine from cameragear.com because it is not availble from any stores in amazon.
2. Tiffen deluxe filter set (FL-D, Neutral Density, Warming Filter)
3. Tiffen circular polarizer
4. Vivitar 285HV Professional Flash (this one is highly recommended from pro to amateur users because of its price and features)I got mine from amazon as well.

All this accessories only cost me U$ 160.00 but it really brought out the best from the S7000.

For the price and feature set, nothing comes close to the s7000. It is the new king of prosumer digicams at the moment.

Go for it. I purchased 3 weeks back, taken 1200 snaps. Most of them superb. I am no expert ( used a 1.3 mp for some time), but I am sure, I will grow with this one. The Auto mode is decent. Even 3 MP pics in Auto are excellent unless u r looking for massive prints. Macro/Close Up mode is grrreat! Hope this works ok, and then I will really have a nice time.
The Good News : Any Novice can easily use it and churn out great photos.

However, get at least 256 Mb if not 256 in both slots. Forget Movie Mode, though it is clear, takes too much memory. Contrary to Review, the Battery lasts long enough. Get a rechargable in course of time. Also, think of a Bag to carry it around. It is quite big, bigger than my Sony TRV 19 MINIDV.

Worry : Why are prices falling fast ? I got for 590 less 100 mail in fr Fuji ( yet to get rebate).Now rebate is gone, but Amazon sells for 499. Buydig gives for below 450!!! What is Fuji upto?

As an user, I have to give it 5 Star. Its good, budd. Happy times!!!

If you are looking for a printer that can print photo-store quality prints quickly, quietly...AND print high-quality text...then look no further...The low cost, separate (and relatively inexpensive) ink tanks, and separate black ink for text are just an added bonus!

I spent months looking and shopping around, and finally settled on the i860 after going to a store and testing the printers side-by-side. True, at the highest photo quality, a lot of these printers will look alike...but after "looking under the hood," I decided the Canon was the way to go...Here is the skinny:

"Top Ten Reasons To Buy This Printer"
(1) Great photo quality prints in a jiffy (some say like 43 seconds, but it seems faster);
(2) Quiet (it almost whispers);
(3) Good print quality on regular text/regular paper;
(4) Easy to set-up, and the documentation is excellent (took me less than 10 minutes);
(5) Fantastic software package that comes with the unit...try the "Easy Web Print" and I guarantee that you won't be disappointed;
(6) Ink tanks are separate (meaning you don't have to replace a whole 3, 4 or 5 color tank when one color runs out) and relatively inexpensive;
(7) The paper that works best with the printer is made by Canon, which is also relatively inexpensive;
(8) Their customer support is phenominal (I had one small issue that turned out to have nothing to do with the printer itself), and their support staff not only knew what they were doing, but I didn't have to hold for an hour;
(9) It's very moderately priced; and
(10) True borderless printing (no perforated paper).

"Top Six Reasons Not To Buy This Printer" (can't think of 10!)
(1) Maximum print size is 8 1/2 x 11. If you like to print posters, find another printer;
(2) No LCD screen, so the printer needs to be controlled from the computer (or Camera if you have PhotoBridge on your camera) and you cannot review pictures on the printer before you print;
(3) No USB or Parallel cable in the box (why not, I ask?);
(4) Photo quality prints do not look great on other papers besides Canon;
(5) It's really big;
(6) The 4x6 paper try is a tad bit awkward;

I hope this helps!

Just purchased the i860. I was going to purchase the i950, but the sales rep talked me into the less expensive, but newer, i860. So far, all systems seem go.

I got the printer mainly for office applications, and it's fast enough to do most of the printing I require on a day to day basis.

Canon was nice enough to include a 5 pack of 4x6 pro photo paper with the printer, so I decided to print a couple of pictures from my computer.

I must say I was very impressed with both the speed and the quality of the prints. I had a print in less than a minute and it looked as good as most professionally developed prints.

It does take 5 inkjet cartridges, but one is dedicated for normal black printing, which, theoretically, cuts down on the cost of printing, or at least, doesn't penalize you if you only use the printer for black text.

I made sure that compatible cartridges were available as well before I bought, because you can save a lot of money by purchasing them instead of the actual Canon cartriges. 1800inkjets.com stocks the cartridges for this printer, so I figured I would save a little. I'm not sure of any of the other online inkjet sites, but I think they might as well.

Overall, I would recommend this printer. It's quiet, extremely fast, nice looking and has done just about everything I needed it for a little better than I expected.

I am absolutely amazed and impressed with the i860. Canon includes all the ink and a few sheets of their photo paper pro so that you can print out photos from the get go. I gave it a whirl and not only was it simple, the photos came out looking like processed film photos! I was so excited I showed them to my husband and he agreed, even on the lowest setting for standard photo prints, the prints looked awesome!

The camera I am currently using is the Fuji Finepix S3000. Excellent camera, that takes excellent photos. The end result used in conjuction with this printer is professional looking photos.

Beyond photo printing, regular printing is awesome too. I used cheap paper from Walmart to print out everyday stuff and it looks great. I haven't had it long enough to know how quickly the ink will go, but the ink cartridges for this are very cheap in comparison to others, plus with individual tanks, you only replace the color that is empty. Plus, there are also many different remanufactured cartridges out there for this printer, so you can get ink very cheaply.

I would recommend this printer to ANYONE I know. I really am enjoying it and am always looking for things to print!!!!

I've been using this product for several months now, and I am very happy with it. To summarize its qualities:
1. high resolution
2. rich in features
3. reasonable easiness of use; pretty intuitive.
4. it doesn't require proprietary & dedicated external flash, a general good-brand external flash would do it as well.

The downsizes:
1. the flash that comes with the camera is a toy; you need to buy an extra one (which adds some $$$ to the cost - for a good flash).
2. Fuji doesn't provide a good fully-automatic flash for the camera. As mentioned above, there are very good manual flashes available are reasonable prices, but thus say bye-bye to the auto modes.
3. no remote. For taking the picture from a tripod, this may be annoying.
4. the depth of field is not very versatile - the camera is quite limiting in the respect of aperture.
5. the zoom is good, but not stellar. For a camera of this performance, a better zoom/aperture control would have made it of real 5 stars.

Overall, good stuff for the money.

Okay okay ... You can get this from several Z-shops sellers, starting at $438 (as of 12-26-03). There are some small errors in the description, which you may clear up for yourself at the Fujifilm.com site. But compare this to the S5000, which you can get new, here, for about $340. And if you hunt diligently, today you can grab it for $296. I am not repeat not talking about some auction sight, either. (Nor in Japan, where I live at the moment, though there is a place here I must check tomorrow just in case. Besides, delayed gratification is not my strong suit.)

The Fujifilm site gives a detailed description of their CCD (Charge Coupled Device) pixel array that to me sounds like the best thing going in what the working class like me can afford. The S602 is Fuji's 3rd generation CCD, the S5000 is their 4th generation. The 602 has 6x optical and 4.4x digital zoom (26.4x), the 5000 had 10x optical and 2.2x digital (22x). If that extra 4.4 turns your head, then shopping for a telephoto is probably something to consider. I find the greater lens power more attractive, and sould give clearer photos, at 22x side by side with the 602 at a comparable setting.

If you want to spend serious $$$ for something that has 5 to 8 megapixels, more power to you. But the S5000 is a better Fuji for less money ... the S602 is really last year's news. My hard earned greenbacks are on the S5000.

After a long search, I purchased the Fujifilm FinePix S602. Unlike the compact form factor digitals, this camera has buttons that can be operated by normal-sized fingers. It also handles both SmartMedia and Compact Flash cards; Fuji recommends the IBM Microdrive, but Compact Flash is about the same price, faster, and uses less electricity. I get 100 pictures on a 256 Mb Compact Flash with the 3Mb/Fine setting. The 3Mb setting takes great pictures for anything up to 8 x 10; most photo paper is only 4 x 6 anyway. I've never seen the need for anything more. In fact, for online publishing I have to reduce the image quality and size. The 640 x 480 video uses 1 Mb per second of video; it's a bit jerky, and the built in mic isn't terribly sensitive, but it's not designed to replace your camcorder anyway. This is the best camera I've ever owned. I take more pictures now because I can afford to; I'm my own photolab. On the negative side, the camera price is a little high, and the included software is lousy. You'll want and need better software, but it'll do in a pinch. Great camera, great fun, great geek cred.

The camera has many nice points. These have been covered in other people's reviews. I will mention the few items that I think are less good:
- It is not very good at focusing, especially in less light environment. I had the Olumpus people look at it but they said there was nothing wrong with it.
- It is terribly heavy.
- It is slow to start up.
Dispite the recomendations from Olympus to not use the Microdrive, I have found a somewhat safe way to copy the pictures from the Smartmedia card to the Microdive. In this way, I can take several hundreds of pictures without needing to upload to a computer.
My next camera will be a Minolta - also with a Microdrive function.

I've had a Minolta SLR for the past 10 years and been very happy with it, but after buying the my "other half" a Canon Digital Elph, I found the ability to immediately review photographs compelling. So, I looked for a digital SLR.

Olympus has hit the price/performance sweet spot with this camera. Competitive digital SLRs cost 50% more than the E10 for the body alone -- i.e. before you've bought any lenses. However, I was concerned that the E-10 would be an adequate replacement for my film SLR. So, The E-10 passed with flying colors.

What's good about this camera: terrific image quality, great lens (f2.0-f2.6!), all the control you could want (white balance, focus, zoom, exposure, flash), support for compact flash and smart media, and ability to take up to 4 shots in rapid succession, easy upload of images to a PC, Adobe Photoshop LE included and good battery life on Olympus NiMH AA batteries.

I took scores of pictures every day and was generally pleased with the results. The camera functions well in program mode, but immediate image review on the camera enables you to use more control if you don't get the shot you need. And with digital, you can just keep on taking shots until you get it right without worrying about film.

The ability to take 4 shots in rapid succession is useful when trying to capture spontaneous events -- like the procession of flag throwers (a Tuscan tradition that goes back over 700 years) out for a practice early one Sunday in Siena. Other digital cameras have big problems with both "shutter lag" (time from pressing the button to capturing the image) and the interval between shots -- especially with a 4 megapixel CCD where images take longer to write to flash.

I made extensive use of a polarizing filter to cut glare under the Tuscan sun, and the images came out with strong colors as a result. The E10 seems a little "flatter" in its color balance than Canon cameras, but color saturation can be easily tweaked in Photoshop if this is a problem for any given image.

I never managed to run the Olympus AA NiMH batteries (purchased separately) flat during a day's shooting, so camera power consumption seems to be excellent -- short battery life is a killer for many digital cameras.

The lens is very impressive. It has a great zoom range, and as the camera was designed for digital from the ground up there are none of the multiplying effects of film cameras converted for digital use (e.g. Canon D30). This means that the E10 has great short-range capability as well as telephoto without having to switch lenses. This is very important if you want to travel light, as I did.

What's not-so-good: problems with IBM Microdrive, autofocus requires care to avoid misfocus errors, viewfinder image location leads to orientation errors, general operation could be a lot faster, and the optional Olypus case is poor.

The E10 requires the photographer to carefully monitor whether it has successfully locked on the subject. Early on, I got several poorly focused shots because the AF didn't focus on the subject. It's easy to miss this in the viewfinder or on the LCD image preview -- you only find out when you get home... However, once you learn to watch for mistaken AF lock, it is possible to re-focus and avoid this. Still, after Minolta's exemplary AF system, this was an unpleasant surprise.

I also used an IBM Microdrive with my E10, but discovered that it does not work properly. I would be able to take several photographs, and then the camera would suddenly complain of flash card errors. It's easy to miss candid shots when you're wondering why the camera isn't working, then realizing there's a flash error, switching to smart media... so the Microdrive went back. Get a 256MB flash card instead.

The viewfinder image is large and oddly focused -- it's easy to tilt the camera about a degree and not notice -- until you get to image review. This can be fixed in Photoshop, but it's annoying to have to fix it.

Finally, the Olympus feels slower than many point-n-shoot cameras, and this is likely down to the embedded processor used in the camera. It takes several seconds before an image can be previewed, and it is slow to move around in image preview mode. Also, it seems to take a long time to compress an image and store it to flash. The 4 image buffer dramatically reduces the impact of this, but not entirely -- especially when you want to take one photo and see how it came out straight away.

Finally, don't buy Olympus' case for the E10. It is very cumbersome and you'll end up wishing you never brought it. I left it at home or in the car most days. You cant open up the case and leave it hanging off the camera -- it gets in your way. That means you have to totally remove the camera from the case and either put it down, stuff it in a bag or squash it under your arm while you try to take photographs.

The net is that I can't see why I'd go back to a film SLR. Although the Olympus E10 has its quirks, and Microdrive incompatibility is a drawback, it is a very good digital camera at an excellent price point for the value you receive. Olympus really doesn't have any competition for the money.

Incredible! Super! The first pro dg camera ever! It takes the best pictures and there's no competition. The quality is absolutely outstanding. Be prepared to spend twice the amount of the camera...

PROS : -Very sturdy, well designed body

-All the manual controls you'll ever need

-Impressive night and macro ability

-SmartMedia and CompactFlash Type II slots

-Ultra-fast shooting speeds

-Handy backlit LCD info display and swiveling LCD

-Ability to preview shots on LCD as well as viewfinder (a first for an SLR digital)

-Manual zoom(sweet!)

-There are lots of equipment for this camera

CONS :

-Lens not removable

-Somewhat sluggish in menus and playback mode

-Disappointing LCD quality

-IBM Microdrive not supported

TIFF mode is just awesome, but the average size is... 11,3 megs. So it`s 11 pics on a 128 meg card. This is THE camera right now for the pros. The super fast shots are incredible, it takes jpg pics like lightning. What can I say else?

If you are looking for a desktop printer (not the portable ones such as Canon's i70) then you just cannot get better than this. I include Epson's PhotoPlus 2200 and HP's PhotoSmart 7960, both of which are great printers but Canon wins hands-down in terms of ink longevity, photo quality (on professional photo paper,) and price (you can get deals for 85 USD for instance.)

The printer flies with B&W text, e.g., while printing websites off the web browser. The setup is breezy and hassle-free. With PictBridge built in, will connect directly to your digicam for printing on paper -- no need to transfer the file to your computer, then print from Adobe Photoshop etc.

For a home printer, given that the Epson, the HP and Canon are more or less the same in picture quality, the most important thing I have realized is that I need to keep ink cartidge replacements in check. Canon blows its competition out of the water in this respect.

And that's for the maintenance costs. Even for the upfront costs, this printer is unmatched either by Epson's 2200 or HP's 7960.

Highly recommended if you are looking for a full-featured home printer.

I bought this printer back in October of 2003. So far, this Canon has proven itself to be very fast, reliable, and economical. There is an option to use "draft" mode for the purpose of conserving ink. This is a great feature to have if you print a lot of text, like I do. The black ink cartridge is also relatively inexpensive. I bought this particular printer because I print a lot of text. My main criteria was keeping the cost per page as low as possible. I rarely print photos, but the few that I have printed on Canon's paper looked very nice.

I like the design of the printer. You can fold the paper holder in the back forward and it will act as a dust cover to keep the inside of the printer clean. You can also close the front of the printer as an added measure to keep the inside free of dust. The i560 is a little bit more expensive than comparable printers from other brands. However, I believe that the lower cost per page will more than make up for it in the long run. There are individual ink cartridges. And the ink cartridges do not have a smart chip built into them. It might be possible, although I have not tried it, to refill the cartridges yourself if you can find the right ink. However, I think the cost of the ink cartridges for this particular printer is low enough that I would recommend buying only the genuine Canon ink, that way you can eliminate most of the problems that people experience with generic or refilled ink cartridges. I was told that a lot of problems that people have with their ink jets are due to using generic or refilled ink cartridges.

For speed, print quality, quiet operation, long ink cartridge life, and versitility this bets the Epson, HP, Lexmark, and Panasonic competition by far. I've been using the i560 for 11 months and have no complaints. I sold all my other printers at a yard sale last spring and haven't missed any of them.

~ ~ * ~ ~
~ ~ Between my old beloved Macintosh, and my new PC, I must have gone through 10 Mouses (Mice?).
Each one, no matter what brand, ended up getting "stuck"- the ball inside that guides the mouse's
movement, would stop rolling smoothly. I'm willing to share some of the blame, occasionally I have
nicotine fit while working, and I know the ashes spell death to the Mouse's performance. The same problem
occurs with the sticky fingers the kids sometimes have when using the computer.

~ ~ I do a lot of amateur photo-editing. (Adobe Photoshop and less expensive, Photodeluxe are great!) This
means that having a mouse with really precise and accurate tracking is absolutely vital! I was a little
skeptical about the optical mouse, but I bought this Logitech basic optical mouse on sale.
It is wonderful. I can even notice the difference in the wonderfully precise movements when I play simple
online games like "Collapse" and "Bounce Out".

~ ~ For any work that requires precise cursor movement (Photo-editing, Illustration, fast-paced Games), this
mouse is terrific. I've had it for 2 months now. A normal mouse would have required at least 2 cleanings of
the inner ball mechanism, but the Mouse hasn't let me down yet.

I highly recommend the Logitech Optical Mouse as an inexpensive investment, which will greatly improve
the way you succeed with many of your applications. This purchase was a winner!

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Update... 9 months later... It's STILL wonderful, not a single problem!!!

I have always liked Logitech's products. I own a wireless keyboard, the Trackman FX mouse alternative, Wingman Rumblepad, Extreme 3D joystick, cordless Playstation2 controller, and now, this humble little optical mouse. Every single one of those Logitech products exceeded my expectations.

I bought a used computer on ebay to add to my home network. It did not come with a mouse. So, not wanting to spend a whole lot of money, I went for this inexpensive optical mouse and ordered from Amazon, along with a KDS 17-inch monitor. I thought it would be necessary to install the included drivers to get it to work with Windows 2000 Advanced Server. However, using the USB port, the mouse immediately began to work without the need to install the drivers from the CD.

This particular computer system is in a dark part of the house. I can plainly see the red light start to glow brighter from the bottom of the unit during use. This device works on a variety of surface, so you do not need a mouse pad.

I highly recommend this Logitech mouse. It is a very good product even if you do not factor in the low price.

I will write a review of the KDS 17-inch monitor as soon as I have had a chance to evaluate it further.

i've been using it for 3 years and it still works perfectly, the only thing i don't like about it is that it seems to be a little too big and the wheel seems to make very loud noise.. guess it's cos i've been using it for so long