I have personally used (a) product(s) or service(s) from these sources and have been please with not only the product or service but also with the company. I feel confident enough in them to recommend them to you. Your mileage may vary and I make no warranty that all products or services from these sources will meet your approval. However, I am very sure that you will be just as pleased with them as I have been. If you do have a problem, please deal directly with the company for resolution as I do not represent any of these firms. I would, however, like to know if you have any problems, or are dissatisfied in any way. All these folks get get my vote for their products or services and the really exceptional ones who have consistently given exceptional service get "5 Flippers."
If you contact any one, please mention this site to them.
If you find a link that no longer works please email me by clicking here and let me know.
AccessoryGeeks (www.accessorygeeks.com ) - These folks carry a wide variety of cell phone accessories such as cables, batteries, carriers, replacement antennas, boosters, address book software, and the like--even for older or discontinued models. Very good prices, fast response, and free 1st Class mail shipment on most orders and realistic shipping costs on other shipment methods.
Arch Memory (www.archmemory.com)
- I've used this Missouri based company for PC memory upgrades and they not only
have excellent prices but fast service. They'll ship free via USPS (no
tracking) or by UPS for $6 (with tracking). The last order I placed (on a
Friday at 10 p.m. arrived at my door on the following Monday afternoon.
Amazon.Com (www.amazon.com) - The seller of everything. I have heard some people complain about Amazon, but in 6 years of buying from them (LOTS of buying) I have never had a problem with ordering, products, or shipping. In fact, when I bought a camera from them at a good price and 2 days later saw they had it listed for about $20 less, an email to them got a speedy reply, an immediate adjustment to the price, and a credit to my credit card. The Amazon third party vendors have all been speedy and reliable too.
Bush Furniture (www.bushfurniture.com)
- These folks make computer, office, and entertainment center furniture that you
assemble after purchase. Their furniture, especially the "office
grade" stuff is well made and their service and support is absolutely
outstanding even 6 years after the sale. I had a side panel that had been
badly scratch during a move and called to purchase a replacement. I was
told there was no charge because they stand behind their products. I use their "Series A"
(formerly "Cubix" line) office/computer furniture in my office and it
is solid, sturdy and good looking (and the panels are 1" thick!).
Cable Wholesale (www.cablewholesale.com)
- This company provides cables, connectors, and similar products for TV / home
entertainment / computers. Their customer service is terrific and they
actually respond to correspondence, their products are first rate, prices are
excellent, and delivery is very fast. My orders are usually shipped the
day I order them or at the latest, the very next day. I use their "premium" audio/video
cables exclusively. I had a friend check some of their cables for matching
and quality and he found them the be the equal of some of the "monstrously"
expensive name brands.
Circuit City (www.circuitcity.com)
- I've have very good experiences ordering electronics from Circuit City. Good
prices, rebates, and fast (and often free) shipping. Things usually arrive
well before the stated arrival date.
Cutlery and More (www.cutleryandmore.com) - This firm sells cutlery, cookware, bakeware, and chefs tools at very good prices and with really fast delivery with reasonable shipping rate. Orders over $59 get free shipping. An order I placed online in the evening arrived at my door the morning of the third day.
Cyberguys (www.cyberguys.com) - Cyberguys sells computer parts, accessories, and supplies. I get most of my CD mailers and envelopes from them at prices that run close to 60 percent lower than local sources (including shipping). Great service and fast shipping.
Cyberscale.Net (www.cyberscale.net) - These folks sell all kinds of scales for general use. When my 8-year-old package scale died I ordered a new digital package scale from them. Good prices, reasonable shipping, and fast service. I online ordered about 10 am , had a confirmation by 12 noon and it shipped priority mail the same day and arrived the following day.
Dremel (www.dremel.com) - The maker of the ubiquitous "Dremel tool" rotary grinder. Their customer service is superb, and they even did a warranty repair on a tool a couple of years old that I couldn't find the receipt for.
Kingston Memory (shop.kingston.com) - Kingston is a well know manufacturer and seller of computer and printer memory. They have excellent prices and very fast free shipping. I placed an online order on Monday afternoon and received it Wednesday afternoon.
NewEgg.Com (www.newegg.com) - This company deals in computer parts and equipment and has very good prices, very reasonable shipping costs, and fast service--every time I have ordered something it has shipped via "2nd Day delivery" within 24 hours of my placing the order. I've used them for several years and have always been amazed at their inventory and customer service.
OnlineLabels.Com (www.onlinelabels.com)
- This company is a supplier of labels for shipping, CDs, etc. and has a wide
variety of labels that match the layout of Avery and other expensive label
company's products. I buy all my CD and shipping labels from them and
their prices cannot be beat. For what the office supply stores charge for
a small pack of labels you can buy 250 sheets. Their shipping prices are very
fair and fast (3-5 days) from the date of your order to your door.
Really Good Stuff (www.reallygoodstuff.com) - If you are a teacher this company supplies fun and creative tools for classrooms and my wife has used them for years. She recently received a letter from them about a product (a desktop stick-on student "helper") that she uses. They discovered that a defective adhesive was used in some batches. They indicated that since they couldn't tell which of these strips in their inventory had the bad adhesive that they were sending every customer who had ordered this product a free set of these "helpers. That's customer care! The can be reached by phone at 877.867.1920 or by email at writeus (at) reallygoodstuff (dot) com.
Rockler Woodworking & Hardware (www.rockler.com) - If you are into woodworking this is your place! They have a wide variety of unusual parts, hinges, fasteners, and tools for the woodworker. including products for glass doors. Great people to deal with and very quick shipping.
Samsung Electronics (www.samsungusa.com) - Not only are their TVs and DVD players excellent, but their service is top notch. When a lamp in my DLP TV started acting strange, a call to their service department was not only courteously and expertly responded to (in English!) but their tech called me promptly, resolved the problem and sent a replacement out next day delivery. And, a couple of days later called back to insure that everything was working OK.
And A Product Recommendation
I am frequently asked about what digital camera to buy. The exact answer depends on what you want to do and your willingness to learn.
If you are looking to upgrade from a "snap shot" camera, the one I recommend is the Nikon D40 digital SLR (not the D40x which is minus some features of the D40 and whose higher megapixel rating (10 vs. 6) really does nothing for you). (I have successfully printed 11 x 14 prints made from a D40.)
I have lived with this camera for a while now and have nothing but superlatives to say about it. I currently have both the 18-55 "standard" lens and the 55-200 "VR" lens. Amazon currently (8/08) is listing the D40 with the 18-55 mm lens for about $469 and free shipping.
I have a background in professional industrial photography and quite frankly if you can't do it with this camera you probably can't do it with anything. Even with it's myriad of features and settings my wife can take good pictures with it in its default mode. The built in flash works very well but for more power and range pick up a Nikon SB-400 flash at a bit over $100. Picture quality is all that one could ask for. Save your money and get the D40 rather than the higher priced models.
KenRockwell.com has an excellent after market downloadable manual for the D40 in pdf format that gives a lot of easy to use help on choosing the optimal settings. You should download a copy before your camera arrives. Much more readable than the factory manual. Download at http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/users-guide/d40-users-guide.pdf While it is free it is worth the suggested $5 donation. He also has some very good articles on photography that you will find useful on his website.
With the price of SD cards coming down I suggest you shop around and get the high speed version of the cards and save the older slow cards for your digital picture frames. A 2 GB card will hold around 500 images at highest quality. Order one or more with the camera. The camera is certified with SanDisk, Toshiba, Panasonic, and Lexar cards up to 4 GB of all speed ratings but should work fine with other brands.
My only complaint so far is that the dedicated macro lenses for the D40 (I do a fair amount of closeup work) are quite pricey compared to the standard lenses, but I have been getting excellent results using supplementary close-up lenses on the normal lenses--just not as convenient as a dedicated macro lens for some work.
The basic camera package comes with the 18-55 mm lens, battery & charger, lens and body caps, USB cable, and camera strap. As for accessories it depends what you really want to do, but I'd suggest the following to start.
Extra SD card(s) (I use the SanDisk 2 and 4 GB "Extreme III" high speed cards. The 4 GB is available for about $22 through Amazon. The D40 has a USB connector and cable for your PC so you don't need a "card reader" or a cable.)
52 mm UV filers for all lenses (mainly to protect the lens)
HB-45 lens shade (if your 18-55 mm lens doesn't have one)
Tripod and/or monopod (And use them!!!)
Small camera bag (Get one just big enough to hold the camera with lens, spare lens(es) and your accessories. There are some nice backpack types available.)
Lens cleaning kit
Spare battery
All the above are available from Amazon.
And a suggestion. Unless you already have one don't bother with a color "photo printer" for your computer. For under 20 cents a picture take the files you want printed to your local drugstore, Walmart, etc. and use the digital print kiosks to make your prints. The one in my local "Wallyworld" has "Fuji" kiosks charges between 25 and 19 cents for 4 x 6 prints in 1 hour depending on the quantity, or 15 cents for prints in 2 days and the quality and permanence is as good as traditional prints and much better than prints from a PC photo printer.
While you can spend a lot more on equipment, remember that as with shooting, expensive, fancy, and "kool" equipment does not make up for a lack of skill on the part of the user.
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Updated 2008-08-27