Christmas gift help -- camera & ipods

Hi all - I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately ---- work has consumed me once again. Its only going to be worse as Christmas gets closer. As per my usual, I KNOW how swamped I'll be as Christmas nears, so I get my shopping done BEFORE thanksgiving. I wrap them right away too, because otherwise they WON'T get wrapped! :eek:

Anyway, my daughters each only want one thing this Christmas. The youngest wants an ipod. The type she wants is $250 (and it MUST be blue). I'd LIKE to find it cheaper.... anyone know of an online spot where I can get a great price on the ipod, and I can trust their products?

My oldest daughter wants a digital camera. I have NO CLUE what one to get her. Once again, we expect to pay around $250, but once again I want the best price possible. To make sure I got the best camera for her needs, I asked what she plans on photographing. She wants it to take pics of her friends dong general stuff in school and at home, etc. She also wants it for their sports. Mostly swimming. My camera was TERRIBLE for swimming. The lighting isn't the best in indoor pools and my zoom was too short. ANY ideas which camera would be best for her? Then omnce we know WHICH camera, WHERE can I buy it for the best price?

Thanks for any ideas!

have you tried amazon or an online review site like www.ciao.com? it might be a uk site only, im not sure but the ciao site gives you the cheapest place to buy them online :)


I would suggest you actually go out and buy the camera from a camera shop or someone who knows what they are talking about so that you can see exactly how to work it

I always use www.overstock.com to look for good deals. But, you may not find the latest and greatest there. (And I know how kids are, they want the latest model available).

LOL... overstock.com is where we got the cheapo digi cam for my oldest daughter last year. She HATES the camera, so this year I want to make sure its a good camera BEFORE we buy it! :D

I tried Amazon, and their prices were nothing to write home about.

We swear by http://pricewatch.com and love our Canon digital cameras! Also keep in mind that you can get a blue cover/sleeve for a white iPod - that's how mine is! ;)

I Agree with Karen -- the Canon PowerShot series is the best for the price/quailty ratio. I SWEAR by mine!! Pricewatch is also where I went to look for prices for the new camera I will be getting next month.

I actually don't like iPods for a NUMBER of reasons -- for the same price you can get a Creative Zen with more memory and is better worth your money. iPods are all about making money because of the name brand. :(

Another good place to look for low prices is froogle.com! :)

Kim, we got my daughter an ipod mini for her birthday about a month ago from sam's club. It was only 195 and she loves it. She got a bright pink skin and a light pink case for it from friends. I swear by sams club and costco, costco has a better return policy than sams if you have problems.

Here is a link to what costco has to offer:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...Path=79*20967*

Waahhh... no fair! Hubby and I cheked out Sams yesterday and all my Sams Club had was the ipod shuffle!

Seriously now, I was wondering what the difference was between an ipod and anything else, but was afraid to voice my opinion to my daughter for fear she would think we're trying to make her ONLY want for Christmas a cheaper one. Thats not it at all... I just want best value for my money, and if I can get more quality for less money from another product, then I'd like to do it. But she ONLY wants a BLUE ipod. God forbid I get the white one and a blue skin to go with it. I KNOW she'll be heartbroken that she didn't get the one and only thing she specifically asked for... she went so far as to cut it out of the sales ads and tape it to my computer so I wouldn't confuse it with any other. :eek: You have to know this kid - she does NOT do things like this unless its really important to her. 99% of the time you can switch things out with her and she'd go with the flow.

As for cameras, thats what I was saying to hubby last nght - either a Nikon or Cannon. He saw a sales ad for Kodak, and I'd hear so many bad things about how easy they are to break, so I said no to anything but a Canon or Nikon... unless somebody has any other brand out there they like. I also need to know WHICH camera wuld be best for her needs.

JUST for every day snapshots, she really won't need anything higher than a 3 or 4MP since she isn't doing anything photography-wise, correct? Just general snapshots of friends and such?? And a Canon would be perfect, especially ones with a "sports" mode so she can capture swimming pictures. :)

And its sad she doesn't want anything other than an iPod, really. Creative Zens are much higher quality, not necessarily CHEAPER but for the same price you get more memory in some models. ;)

Kim, let me know if you find good prices on the iPods - Amber and Amy also want iPod Minis for Christmas this year!

Kim, It looks like Sams has just a white ipod

http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_s...=1131388286869

wow thats a long url....anyway I got my other daughter a non apple mp3 player and it was a piece of junk....plus knowing that age group if they have their heart set on that certain brand then you should get them what they want or you'll just be wasting your money.

For cameras, take a look at this site: http://www.dpreview.com/

... and iPods: http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html

Kim, I have a Canon Powershot 310. I could never take good indoor pictures at a swimming event unless I was really, really close. The digital zoom isn't powerful enough, nor is the flash. It certainly works for quick pictures, up close, but outdoors in sunlight is where I have had my best luck with this camera. It might be operator error, though! LOL!!! :o It is exactly what I need for the most part, and easy to use.

I know nothing about Ipods and don't want to! Sorry I'm no help there!

Logan

On another note about the ipod, it is REALLY loud...not sure how good that is for your ears but the other mp3 player I bought wasn't loud at all.

Logan -- digital zoom on cameras are bad. It's not even a "real" zoom, all it does is enlarges the picture, similar to if you took the image in your graphic program and enlarged it. It looses quailty. :( My powershot only has digital zoom on it as well, but since digital zoom isn't even "real" zoom, I disabled the feature from being used.

If you want to get a zoom on your camera, get one with OPTICAL zoom :)