The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Digital cameras, camera cell phones and music players are expected to be among the hottest gifts this holiday season. According to Mark Shanahan, of Staples Business Depot, memory, resolution, features and compatibility are key areas to check before buying digital electronics. Here's a buying guide on what to look for: Digital cameras How Many Megapixels? The megapixel (MP) is the resolution or clarity of the picture. In general, the more pixels the better the resolution of the picture. Cameras range from 2 MP to 8 MP. For an average user, a 3MP camera is adequate. Memory: Most cameras come with 16 megabytes with limited picture storage. A 32 Megabyte memory card in a 3MP camera will store an average of five uncompressed pictures. Buying extra memory of 128 megabytes with a 3MP camera will yield an average of 21 pictures uncompressed. Features: Look for pre-set automatic settings such as 'sportsettings' used to take pictures of fast moving objects. Check how easy it is to change settings. Compatibility: Most new cameras connect directly to a computer and a printer. It is strongly recommended that buying cameras with 'PictBridge' that enables cameras to connect to any brand of printer. The view screen: The bigger the screen for previewing photos the more battery power it takes. Buy for comfort and portability. The bigger the camera the more often you will leave it at home. The viewfinder is the more important feature than size of the view screen. Battery life: Buy a camera with a recharge kit or purchase a docking kit to easily and quickly recharge. Camera cell phones Picture Quality: A camera cell phone is less about picture quality and more about immediacy and taking pictures on the fly to share with friends. Feature: Cell phones come with a variety of features. The key feature too look for is the screen. How easy it is to read? What is the battery life? Remember the more features used, the shorter the battery life. Does it have an external flash? Look at the size of the keypad and how easy it is to type text messages - look for fast tap technology that allows quick text messaging. See 'Downloading' P.# Con't from P.# Downloading: How easy is it to download? Music players Memory: How many songs do you want to store? Memory ranges range from 128 MBs that carries 20 songs to 40 GB, the biggest models that store more than 10,000 songs. Remember, the larger the memory the higher the price. Additional features: Does it have room for expandable memory, especially important when buying a player in the lower megabyte categories. Some units have a memory card slot built-in. Is there a built in FM tuner? Rechargeable batteries: Determine the type of batteries it takes. Does it have built-in rechargeable batteries or standard batteries? Compatibility: What types of files does it support? The most popular file format is MP3, which is a compression technique that enables large numbers of songs to fit onto the player. Windows Media File (WMF) is another common file format. Look for players that can support both file formats for download compatibility.
