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View Full Version : Any good cheap digital cameras out there?



savafan
11-26-2005, 12:49 PM
I'm looking for a nice digital camera under $100 for a Christmas present. I know there aren't many in that price range, but unfortunately, I live on a budget, so I can't afford much more than that on any one person on my list this year.

paintmered
11-26-2005, 01:00 PM
Sava,

Take a few minutes to look around this site. Search by manufacturer, then sort by lowest price. I was able to find some entry level Kodak cameras for under $80. It even tells you where you can find the camera for the lowest price.

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Digital_cameras/2001-6501_16-0.html?tag=ont-cam

GAC
11-27-2005, 08:23 PM
Tiger Direct is a good place sava. I buy alot of different stuff from there. Here is a link to their digital cameras....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=7

savafan
11-28-2005, 09:06 AM
Tiger Direct is a good place sava. I buy alot of different stuff from there. Here is a link to their digital cameras....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=7

I used to work in sales for Systemax at the Midwest Micro Corp manufacturing/sales center in Fletcher, Ohio. Systemax has many different names, PowerUp PC, Midwest Micro, Infotel, Global Computer, and Tiger Direct among them.

Knowing what I know and having been on the manufacturing floor a few times, I know what goes into the making and shipping of the Tiger Direct products, and I'd never buy one of them. There's a reason why they are so cheap.

RBA
11-28-2005, 10:08 AM
I bought a PC Kit do it yourself computer from Tiger Direct about 7 years ago. I had big problems with it.

For under $100, I would keep my options open, there is bound to be a great buy to pop-up at one of the big discount retailers before Christmas.

savafan
11-28-2005, 10:21 AM
I bought a PC Kit do it yourself computer from Tiger Direct about 7 years ago. I had big problems with it.



I'm not surprised. The Tiger Direct systems were built from the cheapest of materials. Sometimes, "new" systems were built from parts of returned systems, or were simply entire returned systems shipped as new. Also, the Tiger Direct sales reps were almost entirely Hispanic who spoke English as a second language. The Tiger sales call center was out of Florida, and Systemax purposely hired those people because they worked cheap. The systems were built here in Ohio though. Tiger Direct is like the bottom end of the Systemax market...not that I didn't have problems with my Midwest Micro system as well...

ochre
11-28-2005, 10:34 AM
I'm not surprised. The Tiger Direct systems were built from the cheapest of materials. Sometimes, "new" systems were built from parts of returned systems, or were simply entire returned systems shipped as new. Also, the Tiger Direct sales reps were almost entirely Hispanic who spoke English as a second language. The Tiger sales call center was out of Florida, and Systemax purposely hired those people because they worked cheap. The systems were built here in Ohio though. Tiger Direct is like the bottom end of the Systemax market...not that I didn't have problems with my Midwest Micro system as well...
Not entirely true. Tiger used other manufacturers for kit pcs well up into 2000/2001. They liked to order mass quantities of cheap stuff and force it through engineering though. The real problems at Systemax came from trying to get into the TV sales market. The margins in that market are extremely low, but the volumes are nice, particularly in the summer when people aren't buying computers. The TV market forced Systemax to cut corners or innovate. They chose cutting corners.

Having said that, any of the peripherals you see in Tiger Direct's catalog are not built in Fletcher. They are relabeled OEM equipment/White box stuff, or products from other companies.

ochre
11-28-2005, 10:39 AM
I bought a PC Kit do it yourself computer from Tiger Direct about 7 years ago. I had big problems with it.

For under $100, I would keep my options open, there is bound to be a great buy to pop-up at one of the big discount retailers before Christmas.
7 years ago would have been near the time that Systemax bought Midwest Micro. Systemax had previously bought Tiger Direct out of bankruptcy. The Leeds brothers bought into the schtick that the Florida slicksters were selling (those that had just filed bankruptcy) over the successful, productive BTO model that Midwest Micro had developed.

I think things have improved quite a bit in the last couple of years. I haven't worked there since 2001 though. Shortly after I left there they brought some new engineering staff in that finally was able to break the low cost, low quality paradigm.

savafan
11-28-2005, 10:51 AM
Which branch did you work at Ochre? I was primarily in sales, but before moving to sales, I was in sales admin. and was on the manufacturing floor from time to time. I'm not going to say that you're wrong, you probably know more about this than I do, but I do know that when I left Fletcher in 2000, we were building some Tiger systems at Fletcher.

Heath
11-28-2005, 10:58 AM
sava---go into Click Camera (local camera store in Dayton) - see if they have any "used" or "open box" deals. They also are excellent in describing what your camera can and can't do. They also have some factory refurbished models that are just as inexpensive as cheaper ones - and they have more features. I picked up a camera from them on Friday - brand new - 60-70% off retail price. They had a great ad in the Sunday DDN.

Try the one by the Dayton Mall - I think that's their biggest store now.

ochre
11-28-2005, 10:58 AM
Which branch did you work at Ochre? I was primarily in sales, but before moving to sales, I was in sales admin. and was on the manufacturing floor from time to time. I'm not going to say that you're wrong, you probably know more about this than I do, but I do know that when I left Fletcher in 2000, we were building some Tiger systems at Fletcher.
Started in warranty repairs and moved up to engineering. I know what I'm talking about :).

7 years ago would have been '97-'98 time frame. I don't know of them ever knowingly using used parts in new systems. That's not to say that there might not have been isolated occurances from mishandling inventories. What you might be referring to is the use of used (tested good) parts in warranty repairs, which is acceptable practice.

RBA
11-29-2005, 10:00 AM
Here's a digital camera at Sears.com Looks decent for the price.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?vertical=ELEC&pid=00353975000&adCell=P3&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes