I'm looking to buy a digicam online and would like some advice on the best sites for both price and reliability.

Thanks in advance!

-- gsaunders (gwsaunders@earthlink.net), September 19, 1999

Answers

Buy a camera from a camera shop, try FocusCamera.com as they are a huge camera shop in New York. I found my camera $25 cheaper on the net but the internet "virtual stores" have lousy customer service. What do you want expect for items sold below cost? Anyway, buy a camera and get an extended waranty. My nikon 950 warranty was $100 for 5 years and if it breaks, it's the kind of thing you just throw out if your not covered. I work in electronics and just to diagnose these things costs $100, then there is parts and labor. You'd be crazy not to buy from a place that has an extended warranty. By the way Sony has a 90 warranty on all digicams standard. Yikes!!! Don't hand that camera to your kids! Good luck.

-- Cris Daniels (danfla@gte.net), September 19, 1999.

I've had good luck with Computers4SURE.com. Their prices are competitive and they seem to have reasonable policies. Look into the manufacturer's warranty for whatever camera you buy. I wouldn't buy at the big electronics chains (BestBuy, Circuit City, etc.). You'll end up paying much more.

-- wrwagner (wagnerwr@earthlink.net), September 21, 1999.

visits sites like pricescan.com, cnet.com, and zdnet.com, these sites will search for a listing of prices on your item, you will be surprise how much less you can buy a dig. camera,from one retailer to the next.Best of all they have a list of which cameras they tested and would recommend.

-- (Mr2000@juno.com), September 23, 1999.

Prices are not everything on the "net", as many places offer rock bottom prices but "gouge" you "big time" on the shipping costs. An enlightening web site to check out before you buy is www.resellerratings.com which rates vendor performance.

Some suggestions

www.onvia.com which is generally in the top 10 in price in most search engine for price but shipping is a flat $5.00/purchase

www.shopper.com/cgi-bin/nph-sort2?a0=322305&a1=4 for Smart Media price rankings

www.onsale.com for price comparisons on digital cameras and memory,

www.epc-online.com for accessories including the Hagiwara USB media reader

www.thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm is clearly the best place by far to get chargers and NiMH AA batteries.

May also consider www.killerapp.com for pricing on digital cameras

Hope some find this info helpful.

Look for more help at photo.askey.net

-- reid (ranishikawa@ucdavis.edu), October 11, 1999.