Sunday tips: bargain digital cameras and printing online


In the bargain department: refurbished digital cameras. It's no secret that most digital cameras are built in Asia. Check the label on the bottom of any camera. And, like any other consumer electronics device, they're bound to have an occasional problem. In the U.S., some brands have such cameras refurbished in this country, often by employees who are a little better compensated than the people overseas who assembled the camera.

So, refurbs are a good deal, as long as you get a decent warranty. Example: Geeks.com is offering one of my current favorite cameras, the Kodak M1033, for $119.95, and Kodak offers a one-year warranty (same as on a new camera).

In the printing department: online photo printing services sometimes have "default" settings that can enhance your photos before printing. This won't turn a fuzzy print into an award-winner, but it tends to punch up the colors in digital photos. If you do a great deal of Photoshop or Picasa manipulation to your photos before uploading, maybe you don't need that enhancement. Jay has an excellent suggestion about this on his blog here.

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