[seeberg]

Here's the deal: I got paid and now have the opportunity to get one
or the other, and possibly both if I get paid again this month.
I have less than a week to decide on which, and I really need
any advice I can get within the time I've got.

The first thing is a 250GB hard drive for $99(149-50 rebate). At
present, I use a 15GB paired with a 30GB, and I am running out of space
on both, although I have most of the stuff backed up already-22GB is
music, recorded as 75% quality(10:1 compression) VBR mp3's. The price
offered on the hard drive ends at the end of the month, and you can
check it out here.

The second thing is a Polaroid 5.1mp digital camera for $99 that does
not require a rebate, but the offer expires at the end of this week.
I do need a camera, as I am planning to offer the headphones I offer
here at HeadFi on eBay if I can't sell them here, as well as my Bose
AM15 system, which has got to go(it's about damn time, eh?). In
addition, I have other uses(smut photographer

) for a camera with that
much imaging cabability without being too fancy(and you could never
convince me to buy a Qualia 016 for my needs, that's for sure).
You can check out the offer at Circuit City's website, here. It also
happens to be the best offer on a digital camera I've ever seen outside
of a Black Friday promotion, which is post-thanksgiving hell, IMO.

So, any opinions on my buying dilemma? Drop me a line, as I can use
all the advice I can get.

,
Abe

 

[Elec]

I'd probably go with the camera (though I don't really know anything about it).

For one thing, that hard drive is a BB series, which is 2 megabytes of cache. Most people these days would recommend the JB series instead which has 8MB. A drive like the one you linked would probably be a good data storage drive to stream music or video off of but might not be ideal for applications. Also, I've heard several people say negative things about Tiger Direct and rebates. Haven't had any experience with that myself, so it's all hearsay, but they have a "reputation" let's say. Finally, the price on that drive is good but not completely OMGWOW! I got the JB version of that drive (250 gig, 8MB cache) for $109 after rebate from Fry's sometime last fall. Hard drive prices are only gonna go down and capacities only gonna go up, so unless you're really crunched for space, waiting won't hurt you any and you might even find a similar or better deal sans rebate.

 

[Squeek]

You should shop harder for your HDD. I got a 200gb with 8mg cache for under $100cdn, and without having to wait for bull**** rebates.

I'd get the camera if I were you. Summer is nearly here and the opportunity to snap some life long memories is irreplaceable. However, if you have no disc space to store your shiny new jpegs....

 

[frankcent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squeek You should shop harder for your HDD. I got a 200gb with 8mg cache for under $100cdn, and without having to wait for bull**** rebates. I'd get the camera if I were you. Summer is nearly here and the opportunity to snap some life long memories is irreplaceable. However, if you have no disc space to store your shiny new jpegs....

incredible deal.
off topic but where did you get that? Im looking for a hard drive as well.

 

[seeberg]

Thanks for the advice-I'll shop a little harder for an HDD then. Of course, I have no idea where to look, and there's no local Fry's in my area. I've shopped TigerDirect before, and their rebates actually arrived even though I do hate having to wait for them, unlike an OfficeMax one that I'm still waiting for for my printer, argh. Anyway, it looks like I'll jump on the camera then, and check all my backup mp3 discs for accurate playback before wiping them from the secondary (30GB) hard drive temporarily for maintenance. All my personal stuff is on the main drive, and totals a mere 3GB. I can back it up anytime to CD, but I'll wait until June to do it. What I'll probably do beyond that is keep all the regular data on the main drive and all the music on the secondary one.

So instead of shopping for an HDD, I can get an Entempo Spirit(which now supports regular 1/8" minijack headphones upon upgrading the firmware, according to Entempo support-I wasn't going to get one if it couldn't) and some SA1000's (my pay for the end of May looks to be quite nice, so it won't be a problem).

BTW, is there a better camera for the money than that Polaroid 5.1mp I suggested?

,
Abe

 

[bg4533]

I also suggest you stay away from Tiger Direct.

Come up with another $100 and buy the camera and the HD

 

[sleepkyng]

Ya gotta search [H]arder!

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=903205

 

[seeberg]

Wow, sleepkyng, 200GB-8MB buffered HDD for $59 after rebates. Now THAT's a damn good deal. I'd jump on it, but it says the rebate expires in two days. Do deals like that occur often?

,
Abe

 

[sleepkyng]

yeah they do, keep frequenting the hardforum hot deals page and you'll see those seagates (great hard drives, btw, each one has a 5 year warranty!) all the time.


http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4280824

 

[Squeek]

I got mine during a WD blowout at one of the comp parts wholesalers here called www.dealsdirect.ca (they have brick and mortar stores as well).

I have had the best experience with wholesalers, as they offer better or equal products for less than the big box stores prices AFTER mail in rebate.

Also worth noting, I have seen some amazing prices on digi cams at Costco. I just missed the Canon S500 being liquidated for $250cdn. What a steal!

 

[seeberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepkyng yeah they do, keep frequenting the hardforum hot deals page and you'll see those seagates (great hard drives, btw, each one has a 5 year warranty!) all the time.

I will check back in while then.

Well, I got the 5.1mp camera today, the Polaroid PDC5070, and despite the need to upgrade a couple things(SD card to 512mb or 1gb, and NiMH rechargeable AAA's), it looks to be a very promising camera. I can now post pics of myself and my rig on the site, no problem, as well as pics to get my Bose crap sold on eBay soon(and take pictures of cute ladies downtown while I'm at it

)

So far, what I like most about the 5070 is the plug-and-play simplicity. I don't even have to have the power on to connect it via USB, and it acts as a removeable drive without the need for management software. Hopefully, the Entempo Spirit I plan on getting will be this easy to play around with. Getting the hang of the camera took mere minutes, which was another plus, but getting the sharpest images might take some practice- I've been educated on what is passable in photography, but I'm admittely an amateur at best at that and wielding a camera as well.

Build quality is brushed black and chrome polished plastic and rubber sides, and for my standards, it looks pretty reliable. The rubber flap covering the USB port, which is 1/2"x1/4" old rectangular style, could be easier to open, but that's what I get for biting my fingernails as a habit. The only other gripe is that I need to learn how to use the viewfinder as opposed to the LCD, but it seems that the viewfinder isn't alligned perfectly with what the LCD picks up, which is the proper image that you end up with.

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing what this little $100 wonder can do, especially if I get an SD card and rechargeable batteries, not to mention talent with a camera.

More on this as it develops (lame pun

),
Abe

 

[YamiTenshi]

Damn, almost jumped on the camera when I saw it was a 5mp for $100. But then I noticed that it only had digital zoom. My sister has one (can't remember the brand) but every time I use the zoom it just become really fuzzy.

seeberg, how's the zoom on that thing?

 

[seeberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiTenshi seeberg, how's the zoom on that thing?

I haven't really gotten into the usefulness of it yet, so I don't really know too well enough to vouch for its quality- I do know that it doesn't zoom in terribly far though. At present I need to adjust the exposures for low light images, since I hate what the flash does to certain pictures, like my rig. I need a bright, non-flashy image like I've seen members of HeadFi pulling off.

,
Abe