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Reviews (5)
Sep 06, 2017
Pocket FM/AM Receiver meets minimum requirements
This small receiver gave good radio reception and broadcast quality audio from signals on both bands immediately when I turned it on after I charged the battery according to instructions. The receiver gave sufficient power output to drive the earpieces included withe package as well as Apple earpods and studio quality headphones to uncomfortably loud levels without distortion. Battery life is adequate. My limited tests showed that the radio shut down after 90 minutes one time while I was using headphones, and over 3 hours whenever I used any of the smaller earpieces.
One minor issue, which I was aware of when I made the purchase, is that the audio output cord is used as the antenna to capture broadcast signals and feed them to the internal electronics in the radio for demodulation and amplification and ultimately conversion to sound waves heard by the listener. This cable sometimes has to be extended long enough to be a nuisance if it is desired to pick up a week radio signal–not a deal-breaker, however.
My major complaint, however, is that tuning is accomplished by scanning the frequency in both channels from the low end of the band upward until the desired station is reached. This operation is very time-consuming if one wants to tune to a station near the high end of the band. For example, one station in my area that I frequently listen to is at 104.7 MHz. Scanning starts at 87 MHz and moves up until the desired station is found. For some reason the automatic scan stops at 99 MHz and the remaining steps have to be done 100 KHz at a time by pushing the UP arrow button repeatedly until the desired station is found. This can take over two minutes and is a pain to accomplish. It is true that some number of desired stations can be stored by programming them into the device's internal memory, but that operation is very time consuming and probably has limitations.
I would willingly pay much more than the $12 or so that I paid for this radio to get a similar one that could be tuned just by entering the station frequency onto the display with a slide control or push buttons to change numbers.
May 01, 2007
Konica Minolta DiMage A200 Digital
15 of 15 found this helpful I bought this camera as a backup because I already own one just like it and have previously purchased several expensive accessories, including wide-angle and tele adapter lenses for the A200. This camera was discontinued by Konica Minolta, and, subsequently, Sony bought the Konica Minolta camera product lines. As a result of these two events, I became worried that if I lost or severely damaged the original camera, I would have to replace not only the camera, but all of the accessories.
This camera is smaller, lighter, and easier to use than any digital SLR priced for the consumer market, takes beautiful pictures, and supports external flashes and studio strobe lighting. The menu is easy to navigate, and all of the commonly-used picture adjustments, such as exposure compensation, exposure modes, and white balance are quickly accessible without going into the menu. The built-in mechanical image stabilization works very well under low-light conditions where camera shake can be a problem.
The negative characteristics of this camera are very few. The manual focus option is not easy to use, and I find it of limited value. In the few instances I have tried to focus at infinity, it has appeared to focus at a nearer distance, and items closer to the camera appeared to be in slightly better focus than those further away. Newer cameras on the market have sensors in the ten megapixel range, but I do not regard this as much of an advantage, particularly where DSLR cameras are concerned. My reasons for this position are that most of the images I print are 4x5 inches, 8x10 inches, 11x14 inches, and 16x20 inches. This camera produces beautiful prints up to 11x14 inches in size, and very good 16x20 prints, which is as big as my printer will handle. A 10 megapixel DSLR printing these sizes of prints loses around 15% of its pixels due to cropping to fit the 4:5 format, and the 150 pixel advantage of a DSLR in the resolution of the short dimension of an image is of minimal value because the A200 camera produces 2448 pixels along its minimum dimension.
Other reviews of this camera have complained about excessive shutter lag between the time the shutter button is pressed, and the time the picture is taken. I have not found this to be a problem with either of the A200s that I own.
For a photographer who wants to take photographs instead of snapshots and doesn't need to carry his/her camera in a shirt pocket, I highly recommend this camera.
Feb 02, 2017
An Oldie but a Goodie
2 of 2 found this helpful This camera was introduced over 10 years ago, but I have yet to find a more usable pocketable digital camera with all of the features that I, as a semi-pro photographer, desire. The most important features to me are 8 megapixel image sensor, eye level viewfinder, external flash hot shoe, AA battery power, full manual control of exposure all other camera functions as well as an automatic setting, and numerous other features that provide the means to provide excellent images under challenging visual conditions.