I’m sure my poor mother is worried sick not having talked to her son in months. The dialing function on the phone works and I’m able to make calls but I’ve just been too busy playing Bejeweled on my I phone to call my mother. But we will get to that.

First let me start by saying that I was incredibly excited when the I phone came out. I was always a big fan of Apple products since the very first incarnation of the I pod. I even disassembled and then reassembled the original I-pod in under a half hour. For three days straight I camped out in front of the nearest Apple store waiting in glorious anticipation for the legendary I phone. Those frigid nights of sleeping on hard pavement were well worth it. The features literally blew my mind, and the touch screen made accessing the internet incredibly easy. I was able to get old episodes of Star Trek from Youtube and watch them whenever I wanted to. I could even use the GPS feature to track where I was going for my job on Geek Squad. It was a pretty sweet deal.

I recently parted ways with my old I phone, I gave it to my younger brother Sam. I have since moved on to bigger and better things. That’s right, I upgraded to the brand new 16 gig I phone. It works just as good if not better than the old version. On this one I can store even more TV theme songs from the 70’s. The only problem that I can think of is that I believe that the phone part of the I phone is broken. I think the ringer must have been damaged in shipping because nobody seems to be calling me. I could try to disassemble this one as well but the I phone’s sleeker design makes it much more difficult. I wonder if it’s a defect in all the new models. Perhaps some of your readers are experiencing the same type of problem with these new I phones. I pay the phone bill regularly and can’t imagine what the problem might be. I’m afraid that one of my many girlfriends have been trying to call me but are not able to reach me because of this ringer malfunction. I even tried to fiddle with the settings but nothings seems to work. My many years of technical experience from the AV club haven’t prepared me for this.

Perhaps after I beat Bejeweled I will give my mother a call. I really should get that glitch sorted out first. I’m going into the Apple store first thing in the morning. I just can’t risk missing any more important phone calls. So please if anyone out there has any other information about this let me know ASAP.
Over and out.

Justin Shaw

The great healthy quality too much, & we beat to all the keyboard keys when I sit down and I say myself arresting in my hand or meeting my ear and shoulder.

To exactly think that you will more than need 2 of the these purchase, then OK two it is. The game store telephone 2 had said when we boutght that we could add to telephones through the purchase online is true~~so of the place… bigger and more and more.
Buy more of the telephones the first time, not conserve the purchase of one another machine of handset/answer. It is much more better we loves the cool color clear BLUE of the one than that orange that ugly still has in some of the older kinds of telephone.

A GREAT TELEPHONE And a PRICE. - Lin

I would like to make a preliminary comment about reviews…..

When I was reading reviews on this camera and several other models that I have experience using, I found that many reviewer complaints were not actually problems with the cameras, but problems with the user not understanding how to use the camera (e.g., complaints about blurry and out of focus pictures) and/or not being familiar with features that were being complained about. Thus, when reading reviews, try to evaluate the reviewer’s expertise with the product before taking complaints seriously so you do not get mislead and steered away from what may be a great product for you! The opposite can hold true as well – a user may think a camera is great, but they only are basing their reviews on their very limited use of the camera’s features…..

For instance, Here is a picture my daughter took with our SD 1000

And here is a picture I took
I own a digital SLR (Canon Rebel XT) which I use for my really nice photos - portraits, landscapes, close up shots, and special events (e.g., weddings). However, between the body, multiple lenses and other accessories, it is not something that I can just throw in a purse or book bag and easily carry around with me all of the time. I wanted to get a very small camera with a nice variety of settings and very good resolution that I could use “on the fly” to get great “snapshots” while “out and about.”

After doing a little research and being quite happy with Canon cameras, I decided on the Powershot SD 1000 Digital Elf. The resolution is 7.1 MP and the corresponding picture size at the highest quality and size setting (what I always go with) is around 3072 x 2304 pixels (shown at around 33% of its actual size to fit the average computer screen), file size 2.3 MB. Thus, the picture file is more than suitable for all standard size prints to include 8 x 10 and larger. As for how small it is, the total size in square inches is about the same as my cell phone (I have a Motorola RAZR). There are a few Canon SD models that are very close to the SD1000 in terms of features and resolution. I went with the SD 1000 because it has a viewfinder in addition to the LCD screen. Many of the very small digital cameras, to include other than Canon, do not have viewfinders and I wanted the flexibility of having a viewfinder, though I do not use it much with this camera.

The Canon PowerShot SD1000 has a lot of great shooting modes for a wide variety of types of pictures – everything from a “kids and pets” setting (great for the little ones who are moving all over the place faster than you can press the shutter button) to an aquarium setting (great for those fish tanks at the zoo). There are general macro (e.g., for still shot close ups) and infinity (e.g., for landscapes) settings as well as a full auto setting. I recommend “playing around with” the other shooting modes and using the one that best suit the need for the picture you are taking at the time. I must give the disclaimer that I have not used all of the shooting modes yet as I have not had an opportunity to do so – ones I have not used include the fireworks, snow, and beach settings.

I have read mixed reviews on those settings with the beach one being the most positive out of the three. Of course, you do not have to use the beach or snow shooting modes for pictures taken at the beach or when there is snow if you find they do not work well for you as there are other settings that will work fine (portrait, macro, infinity, full auto, etc). There is even a manual setting option for those who want to set things like the ISO, shutter speed, and f-stop themselves – I personally want my small “snapshot” camera to be for quick pictures that do not require much thought as I use my digital SLR for shots where I want to set things manually. However, having the manual option is a nice plus in addition to the many other shooting modes the SD1000 has. There are a few other modes worth mentioning – color swap and color accent. Color swap allows you to switch two primary colors in the shot for the picture. For example, a child wearing a yellow shirt and red pants – you can make the shirt red and the pants yellow for the shot taken. Color accent allows you to take a black and white photo with only one color that shows – for example, a red rose in a vase on the table – everything is black and white except for the red rose itself. Of course you can do these things with photo editing software, but it is quicker to do so with the camera. There is also a video mode with sound. If you want to take great video clips of your kids and easily download them to your computer and then e-mail them to friends and family. Five to 10 minute clips are what I would recommend; otherwise, you will burn through your memory card quickly. I prefer to go with my camcorder for longer video recordings. The format for the video files created by the SD1000 is avi which is a pretty universal format that just about anyone can open and play with multimedia software that comes preinstalled on one’s PC. The free Windows Media Player software works for avi files.

A few “negatives” with the camera that are easy enough to work around…..

There is no battery life meter/indicator and you only get notice that the battery is about out of juice right before you need to switch it. Off the top of my head, you can take a few hundred pictures before the last minute battery indicator icon starts flashing. I keep a fully charged extra battery in my camera case (purchased separate from the camera which is the size of many cell phone, pda, and mp3 player cases) as well as an extra 2 GB SD memory card. Before taking a trip, going to a special event, or periodically otherwise, I make sure to fully charge both batteries (the one in the camera and the spare) and to make sure I have downloaded all pictures off of the memory cards. This ensures that I start off with two empty memory cards and two fully charged batteries which comes in handy for last minute, unexpected outings (park, zoo, visit with family, etc.).

Red eye in pictures is common with this and other very small cameras where the built in flash is very close to where the camera’s lens is. Red eye in photos taken with this camera is most common with evening, lower light settings and indoors where flash is essential in order to light up the person being shot. Red eye can easily be corrected with photo editing software and if you try to get your portrait and group shots of people in better lighting (e.g., have people stand in the area of the room with better lighting), you will have less red eye to correct for. Outdoor daytime shots are not a problem with red eye.

The camera will take great photos in lower light (I do not mean in the dark, which is a challenge with any camera unless you are experienced in this area), you will just likely need to correct for the red eye with your photo editing software – a few minutes of editing is a small investment of time for an otherwise terrific shot. The shutter speed (time between pressing the shutter button and the camera actually taking the shot) is not as fast as my digital SLR, but the camera needs a little more time to “think” about the shot it is going to take. Many who have not used a higher end (e.g., greater than $500 newer model digital camera) will not even notice the slower shutter speed that I mention here. As a rule of thumb, the lower the light, the slower the shutter speed, which is the case with most/all digital cameras. Despite the battery and red eye issues, which are easy to work around, I really like this little camera. It’s a great second camera for those who already have a higher end camera. And, for those who are just looking to take great snapshots of their kids, at special events, etc., it is likely a great only camera. The camera comes with some driver and editing software, a USB cable for transferring pictures from the camera to your computer, AV cables for hooking it up to a TV or VCR or digital photo printer, a battery charger, and user manuals.

I recommend the following accessories:*** A small protective carrying case – I got a very small Samsonite case designed for small electronics (PDAs, MP3 players, and small digital cameras) for about [$]. It fits nicely in my purse, book bag, etc. and protects the camera. *** An extra memory card. It comes with a 32 MB SD card which I use as a spare card and I keep a 2 GB card in the camera. I will likely pick up another 2 GB SD card to also have as a spare. Memory cards come in different “speeds” – the better the card, the quicker the picture files write to it, so less lag time in between shots. Also, go with a better brand, higher quality card to reduce the risk of card failure or other problems. You are capturing precious memories – a few dollars more for a better card is well worth the investment. I have purchased numerous SanDisk Ultra II memory cards for my cameras and have had no problems with them. I believe there is an Ultra III which is even a higher speed card. *** An extra battery. Like with the memory card, do not skimp here. Get an authentic Canon battery or an authentic name brand compatible battery. I have purchased Lenmar batteries for this camera and my digital SLR and have found them so far to be reliable and hold a charge as well as the slightly more expensive authentic Canon batteries. If you are one of those people who like to learn about an item by playing around with it (I am one of these people), I do recommend doing so but while at least skimming through the user manual as you will become aware of features sooner than you will by just playing around with the camera. If I can be of assistance to anyone who is considering this camera, who owns one, or otherwise, please do not hesitate to e-mail