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Comment on UK Cheap Sony DSCTX9N Cybershot Digital Camera – Gold (12.2MP, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.5 inch LCD) for Sale by Clever Spud

Clever Spud — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:57:02 +0000

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent smart camera with functional 3D, 17 Feb 2011

Clever Spud (Birmingham) -

This review is from: Sony DSCTX9H Cybershot Digital Camera - Grey (12.2MP, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.5 inch LCD) (Electronics)

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

The Sony DSCTX9H does a good job of simplifying a large number or very sophisticated features. The touch screen display is large and intuitive with the vast majority of the available functions clearly labelled along with on-screen instructions.

Unfortunately the bundled software does what a lot of bundled software is guilty of and takes a little too much control over your computer.

A 120Hz monitor is required to make use of the 3D stereoscopic viewing possible and as I do not have such a beast, and in general found the Sony software to be quite poor, it was quickly un-installed.

Taking pictures is simplicity itself, though I have to agree with other reviewers that the results do seem a little soft.

The panoramic and 3D features work surprisingly well and are quite easy to pull off, but the 3D is really only suitable for inanimate objects or those prepared to make like a snowman and "freeze". Viewing the pseudo-3D back on the cameras excellent screen after my first few faltering attempts was both very amusing and rather grotesque, watching a friend's face warp as I moved the camera from side to side.

All in all it's an expensive piece of kit and I suspect unsuitable for even the semi-professional. The 3D is still a gimmick but if you're prepared to pay for the intelligent focus and other features then these at least are top notch.

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Comment on UK Cheap Sony DSCTX9N Cybershot Digital Camera – Gold (12.2MP, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.5 inch LCD) for Sale by Mr. R. Brown "rsbrowndog"

Mr. R. Brown "rsbrowndog" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:54:02 +0000

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Very impressed!, 25 Dec 2010

Mr. R. Brown "rsbrowndog" (England) -

This review is from: Sony DSCTX9H Cybershot Digital Camera - Grey (12.2MP, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.5 inch LCD) (Electronics)

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

I've been looking for a digital camera for a while, having previously been content to allow my wife to take the pictures. So when I had the chance to get my hands on this camera I jumped at the chance.

I'll start with a few comments on the contents of the box, which I was slightly disappointed with. Firstly you don't get a proper printed manual for the camera, instead having to refer to a PDF copy on your computer. Given that some of the functions of this camera can be a little complicated (3D Panorama images!) it is frustrating not to have a handy guide to refer to.

Secondly you get a little cradle to use when connecting to your computer, which also has audio/video output (cable supplied) and a HDMI output (cable NOT supplied). There is also the USB connector (cable supplied) and a power socket (cable NOT supplied). It's this last omission I find the most baffling, as the alternative is to remove the battery from the camera and charge it in a separate charger, which isn't particularly convenient.

Onto the camera, the touch-screen is very impressive in terms of picture quality, but I found it to be not as responsive as the touchscreens on either my HTC Hero or iPod Touch. I have to admit that I have yet to fully explore all the functions, having been content to point and shoot with the default settings, but the quality of the pictures that I've been taking are so good that I haven't needed to!

I'm sure I will delve deeper into these settings over time and can't imagine I will be anything less than impressed with them. I must say that the 3D panorama function can only be seen as a bit of a gimmick, given the scarcity of compatible equipment to display the images, but if you are in the market for a camera in this price bracket I can't recommend this one enough.

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Comment on UK Cheap Sony DSCTX9N Cybershot Digital Camera – Gold (12.2MP, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.5 inch LCD) for Sale by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley "katywheatley"

Mrs. K. A. Wheatley "katywheatley" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:38:22 +0000

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

The things you can do, 1 Jan 2011

Mrs. K. A. Wheatley "katywheatley" (Leicester, UK) -

This review is from: Sony DSCTX9H Cybershot Digital Camera - Grey (12.2MP, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.5 inch LCD) (Electronics)

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

This is a tiny piece of kit, about the size of an iPhone but quite a lot heavier, it is fairly daunting when you first get it out of the box. One side is all LCD screen. The other is covered by a lens cover which you slide down manually to get at the lens underneath. The actual controls on the top and sides of the camera are tiny. If you have clumsy fingers or difficulty with dexterity you will struggle.

Luckily, most of the controls are actually on the LCD screen and use touch screen technology to access them.

There are a lot of them, and you won't get very far without the manual. There are two. The first is a paper manual which guides you round the machine and how to plug it in, turn it on etc. Then there is the CD Rom which goes into all the more technical user stuff.

You can take ordinary pictures very simply within a matter of minutes. These are super clear, high definition images, just as promised. There is a red eye omission function, which if used, means you have to wait longer for each shot to take. My children got bored waiting, and I managed to take several shots of the backs of their heads as they decided they had had enough. You can turn the red eye off however, which significantly cuts down the time it takes to snap a picture.

This is not really a camera for the simple, point and click generation, although, as already said, it will do this. You would be spending a great deal of money for not a lot if this is all you want it for. The money you pay is for all the other bells and whistles.

The function which allows you to take 180 degree panoramic shots is fantastic, and when you have uploaded the pictures onto your p.c. you can go to town editing them, tracking through the shots and zooming in on details etc. There are also functions that allow you to blur backgrounds, take close ups, put in immediate effects such as underwater style photos etc. These are good fun.

You can also use the shutter speed filming technique which takes lots of pictures per second and allows you to create photographs that, when viewed on screen act like a flick book or old fashioned film.

The High Def filming function is also excellent. The sound quality is very good, the picture quality is phenomenal and it is very simple to use once you have looked at the manual, or are already au fait with this kind of technology.

We have not had much joy with the 3D effects, but as we do not have a 3D compatible television on which to view the results it is not the fault of the camera. Given the quality of everything else we have managed to produce after two weeks of use, I expect it is very high.

There is a cradle into which you slot the camera, and from which you can run all kinds of cable, allowing you to upload and edit on televisions or p.c's. It is very simple to use.

It is not a camera for a beginner. It also needs a case. The LCD screen is fairly fragile, and it is not a bit of kit you can simply throw into your bag. I confess to finding it intimidating to begin with, but with practice it becomes less intimidating as time goes by, and the results have been uniformly excellent despite the failings of the tester as a photographer.

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Comment on UK Sell Sony ICFCL75IPB.CEK ICFCL75IPB iPod/iPhone 3G Dock Clock Radio for Sale by chunkyme

chunkyme — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:09:46 +0000

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Firmware Issue, 29 May 2011

chunkyme -

This review is from: Sony ICFCL75IPB.CEK ICFCL75IPB iPod/iPhone 3G Dock Clock Radio (Electronics)

This unit appeared to do everything I needed. I was initially pleased with it, but then it intermittently locked up and I missed several alarms therefore making the alarm function unreliable. I investigated on the internet and discovered it was a known issue and the firmware code has to be upgraded from 1.05 which the unit came with, to 1.07. You can easily download the files to your laptop, but you cannot use a USB stick to perform the upgrade; you have to use a flash card. If you do not have a flash card and a compatible flash card slot on your laptop, you are completely stuck and as I had neither, I contacted Sony.
The Sony USA site says if you don't have flash card access, they will send you a flash card with the latest code on it, but they will not send it outside of the USA. The UK Sony support said...........try and find another laptop and refused to help me!! I insisted on complaining to a manager and after hearing nothing for two weeks, I had a phone call advising me that I was lucky they still had some spare flash copies of the latest code and they would send me one.
I offered to send it back after I had upgraded and they declined.
The unit has not locked up again as yet (but it has only been a week) but I still get a message saying my iphone 3gs is not compatible when I plug it in and try to charge it, even though it still charges!
Last complaint.......it is a dust magnet.
On the plus side, it is nice to have a unit to plug your phone in to charge overnight. The display is big and easy to read and the screen goes black at night leaving the very dimmed time still visible. The unit does not continually buzz or hum. You can set 2 alarms, turn them on and off and adjust the times easily. You can set the alarm to wake up to the radio, your iphone or nature sounds etc, a nice choice.
So this is not a unit to not buy, it is just one that you need to be aware of all the issues so you are not disappointed.

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Comment on UK Sell Sony ICFCL75IPB.CEK ICFCL75IPB iPod/iPhone 3G Dock Clock Radio for Sale by Mr. James Sullivan Ta Ltd "Jim Sullivan"

Mr. James Sullivan Ta Ltd "Jim Sullivan" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:50:02 +0000

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

Firmware Update, 12 Aug 2010

Mr. James Sullivan Ta Ltd "Jim Sullivan" (UK) -

This review is from: Sony ICFCL75IPB.CEK ICFCL75IPB iPod/iPhone 3G Dock Clock Radio (Electronics)

I bought this primarily as an alarm clock, secondly as an iPod charger. Unfortunately the machine freezes when you set the alarm. The problem with this is it doesn't freeze until the alarm goes off so as a result I have missed a few important meetings and have been late. The excuse 'oh my Sony Dream Machine crashes when I set the alarm' doesn't really wash with people. I checked the units Firmware which is 1.01 and checked Sony support to find there is a Firmware update 1.05 to stop the freezing. I am yet to update the machine though as this can only be done with an SD card and not a USB Mem stick. If the update doesn't work I will be sending it back. I can see why they called it 'Dream Machine' as it fails to wake you up. I will add another review once I've updated the firmware.

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Comment on UK Sell Sony ICFCL75IPB.CEK ICFCL75IPB iPod/iPhone 3G Dock Clock Radio for Sale by Mr. Peter D. Stokes "CrazyHorse"

Mr. Peter D. Stokes "CrazyHorse" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:35:30 +0000

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

Awesome!, 14 Jan 2010

Mr. Peter D. Stokes "CrazyHorse" (UK) -

This review is from: Sony ICFCL75IPB.CEK ICFCL75IPB iPod/iPhone 3G Dock Clock Radio (Electronics)

Had one of these for a few days now and I have to say I love it! As always, being made by Sony its a quality piece of kit. The speakers are pretty good for a radio / alarm clock unit. You have to spend a lot more for serious quality. As a media player though it does the job more than adequately. The screen is good, but as with all LCD's you have to get the viewing angle right. The menus are quite straightforward and the quick set alarms are really quite clever.

Pro's of this unit are: -
Great screen
Good sound
memory card slot
1gb internal memory
easy to use

Cons
No headphone socket (although music or video from your iphone works with the headphones on iphone)
No remote

A few pointers to help you....
When you want to watch videos from your iphone, cue them up on your phone first then select video from the units menu. its written in really small print in the manual!
If u have the unit set to its lowest dimmer setting (night time sleep mode), it wont recognise your iphone, no matter how many times you try and plug it in again! Up the dimmer setting then plug it in...then set it to night time mode
There is no way to take the picture off the background of the clock. In the end I took a picture with the lens cap on and uploaded that!

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Comment on UK Cheap Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens In Stock by David Clarke

David Clarke — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:55:53 +0000

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

excellent camera for the price, 21 July 2009

David Clarke (UK) -

This review is from: Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens (Electronics)

Recived this camera today & have just had a chance to test it out. It gives excellent results, pictures are sharp & clear & the viewfinder is bright & easy to use. The menu system on this camera is also excellent, very easy to use, well layed out & there is an onboard help system that explains each setting in detail as you highlight it.

The camera itself is quite small & light & has fewer buttons than most DSLRs in this class (although still keeps all the functionality), this can only be a good thing as it makes it easy to remember where everything is located for when you want to change a setting while taking a shot.

There are a few things that stop the camera from getting 5 stars though, mainly that there was no lens hood included, you have to take the battery out of the camera to charge it & the lens cap doesn't have a tie hole on it (so very easy to drop or misplace). I know these are really only little things but there little things that you just expect to be included when spending £450..

overall though a very good little camera, I can't fault the design & like I said above it produces very nice crisp shots.

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Comment on UK Cheap Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens In Stock by pbm2004

pbm2004 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:51:56 +0000

74 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

Good introduction to SLR, 27 July 2009

pbm2004 (Nottingham, England) -

This review is from: Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens (Electronics)

The Sony A230 is as good an introduction to using an SLR as I could have hoped for. Making the leap from a dodgy compact to a full blown SLR is quite a big step and I was slightly nervous about learning the ropes, but the a230 is totally intuitive and has a brilliant graphic display.

Within two or three days of use I am already playing around with the advanced features and am taking shots of a quality I never thought I would be capable of.

Note: the a230 does not have the tilting screen or live view - the photo and manufacturer's description refers to the other models in the new Sony Alpha range.

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Comment on UK Cheap Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens In Stock by V. Brean "mangizmo"

V. Brean "mangizmo" — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:11:52 +0000

185 of 186 people found the following review helpful:

Good Solid Performer from Sony, 12 Sep 2009

V. Brean "mangizmo" -

This review is from: Sony Alpha A230L Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 mm Lens (Electronics)

This is Sony's entry level DSLR and whilst well specified, it does not have the Live view or the tilt screen of the A330/A380, in all other respects it is the same camera....which is a good thing

For me, and I have tried the A230, the A330 and the A380, the choice is between the two 10MP cameras (the 230 and the 330), I would forget the 380 with its 14.2mp sensor...the 10mp version as used in this camera gives cleaner, more punchy results, and its cheaper too

So, great things about this camera...smaller and lighter than the camera that it replaces, better user interface which will have you snapping away in no time....there is really nothing bad to say about this DSLR only that you may want to handle one first as some people say the grip is too small....I personally think its just fine, and I have big hands.

Sony have really established themselves in this market now, and there is really no longer any reason to choose a Canon or a Nikon over this camera, Sony Alpha DSLR's are here to stay, and Sony now have a really decent system on the market which is getting more and more established as time passes...no-one dismisses the Sony Alpha cameras anymore...they are excellent, so any lenses and accessories that you buy will transfer to future Alpha cameras

Just a definition of live view if you are unsure.....on a compact camera, you can see the image on the screen before you press the shutter button....on this camera you cant do that, you need to use the viewfinder at all times...thats all OK if that is what you are expecting, if you want that feature on this camera (many people are not bothered)...then you need the slightly more expensive A330....and as I say...forget the A380

So to sum up...good reliable entry level Sony Alpha which takes great photographs which are at least as good as any other 10MP DSLR on the market (Sony supply the image sensors to other manufacturers anyway...so the image quality is the same), its fast, lightweight, has a decent kit lens and it is nice to use, the handgrip has been criticised but in my opinion its fine, and last of all, the price is very competitive....you cant go wrong really

I give it a Recommended

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Comment on UK Low Price DURAGADGET 14 inch Padded Camera Rucksack Backpack case for Canon EOS and PowerShot Range for Sale by Toby Coulson

Toby Coulson — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:35:01 +0000

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Decent bit if kit., 25 Feb 2010

Toby Coulson (UK) -

This review is from: DURAGADGET 14 inch Padded Camera Rucksack Backpack case for Canon EOS and PowerShot Range (Electronics)

My only gripe is that the main zip is difficult to use as it's well hidden to protect it against the weather.

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