Garumph! My 24mm lens died!
Feb. 15th, 2007 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thewayneThe diaphragm won't stop down, which greatly reduces its usefulness. I'm going to be in Las Cruces tomorrow, so maybe I'll stop by this camera repairman that I know. It's probably not worth repairing as the lens is over 15 years old and a more modern replacement would work with my digital camera, definite bonus, plus it can be replaced for (probably) less than $150.
Re: Hi, totally off post-topic
Date: 2007-02-17 03:15 pm (UTC)Just kidding.
I'll give odds that it isn't so much the printer that you have as the price that you paid for it, which is also a convenient segue into your upgrade. I don't know where you live, so I don't know what electronics/computer dealers you have near you. As far as upgrading sound, I have one question (aside from how much money you want to spend upgrading): you want to listen to music, movies, or hard-core gaming. I'm guessing the first, maybe the second, not the third.
My personal recommendation would be to go and listen. You don't want (unless you're REALLY serious about sound) Dolby 5.1, Surround Sound, or anything like that. You want a pair of good-sounding speakers. So take some music that you like and ask them to pop it into whatever they have feeding their speakers and listen. Spend some time, after all, you're going to be spending your money.
My printers are Creative Labs Cambridge Sound Works. Just two speakers and they sound really nice. I have no idea how much they cost as they came with my Gateway PC many years ago.
As far as printers are concerned, again, the money issue enters into it as does the utility end. What are you printing? General documents, web pages, etc., or are you also printing photos or high-resolution graphics. If it's more general purpose, a low-end printer will probably suit your needs. If you print graphics or photos or stuff that benefits from high quality, then you need to spend some money. Also, if you need a scanner, copier, or fax machine, maybe an all-in-one is what you need.
For printing photos, I'd go with Epson. They're excellent for printing photos, it's what we used in my Photoshop last semester. Me personally, I'm not a fan of Hewlett-Packard printers, I prefer Epson or Lexmark. Canon also makes pretty good printers.
I can't recommend specific models because I don't keep up with the industry to that level.
One thing that you can do to extend your printer life is to TURN IT OFF when it's not in use. It helps to prevent ink from drying in the nozzles and extends your printer life. And don't expect your printer to last more than 2-3 years. If you need to leave it turned on all the time, buying an extended replacement warranty might be a good idea: my dad just got a new printer from Fry's Electronics through that.
Re: Hi, totally off post-topic
Date: 2007-02-18 08:11 am (UTC)