Your opinion...again

[ale52]

OK, so the client has a change of heart.  Now I need your expert advice on a digital camera (which I know very little about) and a color printer that does photos well.

I personally prefer a color laser.  They are relatively inexpensive and from the qualityy that my brochures and business cards look like, well worth the price.  Inkjets suck the ink & money out of you 

You thoughts are appreciated 

Alan <>< 

[beanhead07]

What's the price range you want to stay in for the camera? Also are you still wanting to stay in the "under $100" price range for the printer?

[ale52]

I'm not sure about the camera.  A friend gave me his old one so I've never had to price them.  A couple of hundred maybe?

I think the client will pay a decent amount for a color printer.  I suggest a laser as the prices are now within reason.  I have a Xerox 6120 that I use for my business cards and brochures and they come out fine.

Thanks beanhead07 

Alan <>< 

[beanhead07]

Alan, I'll do some checking on the cameras for you, I don't know a whole lot about the printers but if you like the one you've got maybe one like that will work for your client? But I'll check on the cameras and post back the results.

[beanhead07]

What does your client want to use this camera for exactly? (besides "taking pictures" lol) Like what kind of pictures are they going to be taking (just personal ones or doing more professional stuff) just to help me better know how to look. Hope this made sense.

[beanhead07]

Alan, I did some research and found that the Canon PowerShot A630 seems to be a very popular camera and it has very good print quality according to all the reviews. But you can check it out it's around $200. But it seems to be a very nice camera. Hope this helps.

[ale52]

Thanks for the research, beanhead07    It's not like I don't have a whole lot to do 

Alan <>< 

[beanhead07]

no problem alan, i'll keep looking for ya. I know Amazon.com had that canon for $190 and Dell had it for $200. But I'll do some more research and see if i can't find anymore.

[Calum]

I have the A430, and I can testify to the quality of the images and the camera itself.
The A630 is two up the line from mine, so should be even better.

[soybean]

For reviews written by users, visit http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/ and click on a selected model.  I see the A630 is a whopping 8 Megapixels (MP).  The whole MP thing is just getting out of hand.  I can get decent 8x10 prints from 2MP camera, although, of course, I would want something with higher MP if I were frequently making 8x10 prints.  For many camera users, a 3.2 MP is quite adequate.  Oh well, maybe I shouldn't go into this MP discussion.  You go with the flow, I guess, and the flow is toward ever-growing MP capacity.

But, if your client would like to spend somewhat less than $200 and still get a camera that will take nice pictures, that's easy to do nowadays, with camera prices being what they are. 

Concerning printing of pictures, is your client set on doing their own printing?  Keep in mind that printing your own is not necessarily the most cost effective option for everybody.  Using Wal-mart's photo center or any one of various other in-store options from other retailers, or using an online service such as shutterfly.com, is an easy way to go.  For me, I see such services as the more cost-effective way to get some prints developed than doing it at home. 

[Calum]

I agree about the whole MP issue, my A430 is 4MP and that was never the primary concern when buying.
A4 prints look fine to me from that.
I think that the only reason cameras are being made with more MP is because it sounds good - average Joe camera-buyer doesn't read tons of reviews, he goes into a local store and is dazzled - 10x zoom!  8MP!  Wow!  He goes home happy with his amazing buy, only £300.
But . . . it's 2x optical zoom and no one bothers explaining that digital zoom is worth nothing, and that he doesn't need 8MP for a postcard print . . . and that he'd have been much better off with the £100 camera he ignored because it only had 4x zoom and 4MP.
Get what I'm saying?

[ale52]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the great input   

I think I'll go with the A630.  Good price and MP factor.  BTW, these folks haven't had a new computer in years so the one I build plus all the peripherals will be an "out-of-this-world " experience for them.

soybean...
Yes, they will be doing their own printing.  They want to stay away from the inkjets due to expensive (and frequent) replacing of ink cartridges.  We don't have a Wal-mart near us as we live in the foothills, so we have only the local-yocals.  They don't know ANYTHING about the Internet except that it's out there, so for now on-line stuff won't work.  Both are total noobies so I must be gentle with them

Alan <><