Found Not Lost

This past week, my constant companion, my digital camera, caught a virus of sorts along with my laptop which now needs to be reformatted. I know, when it rains, it pours, right?

Well, what happened with the camera is, my daughter dropped it and after she did, the camera started returning a ‘lens error’ code. When I try to turn it on, the lens doesn’t come out, then the screen flashes a quick ‘Lens Error 12′ then turns black and shuts down.

At the time I bought it, I think I spent about $200. It was a little on the high side considering that now you can buy a digital camera with the same specs for about half the price, I knew I didn’t want to spend money getting it repaired. The cost of repairing it would probably cost the same as buying a new one anyway.

So, I turned online to see if this camera can be salvaged. I found out that this error is common in a lot of these Kodak EasyShare cameras. I lucked out that I am only having trouble now after over two years of constant use. Some people started returning these errors almost as soon as they got their cameras. From what I read in the forums, it really is better to just go on and buy a new one. Photo.net is one place where I found some of the more informative posts about this lens error. The problem is caused by the mechanism that makes the lens move in and out of the camera. Some people found the problem fixed by merely changing the battery - apparently it doesn’t like low levels of battery power and just changing to a fully charged batteries fixed the problem. A lot of people also found that banging the camera fixed the problem.

Why does banging the camera work? It works because apparently, after time, the gears wear out or break off and the small particles that break off fall and cause the other gears to jam or not catch at all. One enterprising person took his Kodak 330 apart to illustrate this problem with step by step photos. Visit this site to find out what causes the lens error on Kodak 330.

It is unfortunate that so many of the products manufactured nowadays are built to be disposable and irreparable. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a scam or conspiracy as others on the forums, but it does reek of something like the Colonix scam where you are baited to make a purchase by ‘too good to be true’ promises only to find out that you will end up spending more later.

So I’ll probably buy another digital camera, but I don’t think it will be a Kodak. I wish I could afford an SLR, but that will be another dream post.

The second generation of the Kindle wireless reading device has been released. Techies and book lovers alike are excited about the new, improved version.

Say Hello to The New Kindle

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines
Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback
Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required
Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images
Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging
More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books
Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns
Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you
Large Selection: Over 240,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available
Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise

The Kindle 2 is definitely making it to my wish list this year.

My daughter and I were talking about the Kindle the other day and she said, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was an iPhone app like the Kindle or rather than the Kindle had some of the features that the iPhone has like the ability to browse the internet, instant messaging and games?” That really would be cool, like having a mini computer in your reader.

Then I read this Review of Kindle 2 on Crunchgear and I see that he also has the same ideas!

If you’re into gadgets or are interested in developing your own applications and maybe are interested in IT jobs, these are the kind of ground breaking ideas to look out for. Crunchgear thinks this is the way everyone will be reading in the future. Can you imagine students having one of these instead of 5 textbooks in their backpacks?

I’m tired of my TracFone. Although, I don’t really mind my cell phone itself. It has an easy to use T9, or predictive text. It’s not a bad size and it’s cute, it’s not the most technologically advanced phone, but I like it. It’s a big upgrade from my previous phone. Because I like it so much, I wouldn’t totally mind using it with a real plan.

However, it’s not my ideal phone. Auntie O said she might send me her Blackberry Pearl after my report card comes. I would definitely love to use that instead of my current phone. I doubt I could get a real plan right now, so I would love to use the Blackberry along with my current TracFone sim card… It might need to be an unlocked cell phones in order to work, or at least work with another plan.. I’m not sure how it all works.

But I wish I could get a plan!! I need unlimited texting.. Sorry for the ranting!

-Jade

I had mentioned previously how my daughter loved her Meizu MP4 Media Player. She still does, actually, but unfortunately she can’t use it anymore.

Around March, which was approximately six months after she bought her media player, it just twitched and died. While she was listening to her music, the screen suddenly fritz to just wavy lines (much like when your TV messes up) then blackness. I think it may just be a screen problem because it still plays music when you turn it on, but you can’t do anything else like backing up your music, forwarding it, selecting, etc. because the screen is dead! So my daughter has been kind of depressed over losing her player and also her money.

We tried to contact the manufacturer, Meizu, but haven’t had any reply. We tried contacting the people who sold the Meizu and issued a limited warranty for it, Dane-Electronics, going as far as leaving a message on their forum, but so far haven’t received any reply from them. From what I gather from other Meizu player owners, you are pretty much on your own when you buy this player. There aren’t very many distributors or service centers around.

I’m going to wait a few more days and see if I get any replies from the forums.