[SMFrys]

Wow, I already got a reply from Steve with quantities and locations! He still said to call them first though. I will do that. That is great customer service there.

Did you mean Shawn?

[VoiceOfReason]

Did you mean Shawn?

Yes I did! I just got off the phone with a Steve here at work and I have a REALLY bad habit of not thinking while typing, so I entered the last name I had spoke to. Oops!

Thanks Shawn! Now if only you guys would ship this, or better yet, if only you had a store in Nashville TN!

[eddie1960]

that is good service. If frys is like the big box i worked at for the last 6 years i did in retail there will be some excellent stores and some awful ones
sounds like his may be one of the excellent ones

[madbrain]

Just came back from Fremont Fry's.

The demo camera was not in great shape, to say the least.

It was missing the body cover and was open (lens off), full of dust on the mirror. But that can be cleaned.
Hopefully there is none on the sensor.

The green dial on top (to change modes) seemed very soft compared to my other cameras, the Pentax K200D and Canon T3i. Not sure if it's something particular to this demo unit having been played with too much, or with the K-r model.

But the worst part of course is that once I put the battery in, it just would not power up. The sales person said it had powered up this morning.
I hope it is the fault of the stupid Li-on battery getting discharged and not a bad body. There was no other K-r battery or charger in the store to try.
The manager took 5% off the $299, it came out to $308 with sales tax. Wish it had been more since they advertise dual-lens kit for $299. Has anyone found stock on those ?

I was told if my unit turned out to be defective, I would have 30 days to return it to the store for full refund without a restocking fee, so I still bought it. It's on a credit card that I pay in full every month, so I don't really have to pay for it if I return it within the card's grace period.

Unfortunately, the local ebay seller for the charger did not get back to me within 3 hours of my purchase No email, no phone, no text. sigh. They are closed over the weekend. So my "new" K-r is likely a useless brick at least until monday.

When you take that into account, it's not as great of a deal.
If anyone got a new unit with dual lens for $299, you are lucky.

[Docrwm]

Hi,
My name is Shawn Vaughn. I am the Store Manager of the Fry's Electronics in Roseville, CA. I recently set up a few google alerts and one of them led me to this discussion board regarding K-R kits. I searched the entire company stock and it does seem as though there are scattered demos and maybe one of the black model. As for the red model, the inventory seems to be demos only based on the inventory detail I have access to. Those are also scattered throughout the company. These numbers do not reflect what may have already been sold, but if anyone would like to know what your market or particular store shows as a stock level, i'll try to respond asap for you.

As far as my specific store goes, I only have a red demo in stock. No stock of the black model. The demo is also missing the battery pack. Likely taken from the demo some time ago as it's been on demo for a while. It is in great shape though. I believe they will use AA batteries.

If any of you would like to contact me directly to perhaps hold this item for you, you can reach me at my work email address. sv04@i.frys.com. It goes directly to my phone and I can reply right away. I hope this communication hasn't violated any forum rules and I apologize if it has. My goal was to give great customer service where it would be least expected

Have a great day guys! And thank you for be Fry's customers.

Shawn Vaughn

Let me thank you as well for the exemplary CS!

[EdwardConde]

Just came back from Fremont Fry's.

The demo camera was not in great shape, to say the least.

It was missing the body cover and was open (lens off), full of dust on the mirror. But that can be cleaned.
Hopefully there is none on the sensor.

The green dial on top (to change modes) seemed very soft compared to my other cameras, the Pentax K200D and Canon T3i. Not sure if it's something particular to this demo unit having been played with too much, or with the K-r model.

But the worst part of course is that once I put the battery in, it just would not power up. The sales person said it had powered up this morning.
I hope it is the fault of the stupid Li-on battery getting discharged and not a bad body. There was no other K-r battery or charger in the store to try.
The manager took 5% off the $299, it came out to $308 with sales tax. Wish it had been more since they advertise dual-lens kit for $299. Has anyone found stock on those ?

I was told if my unit turned out to be defective, I would have 30 days to return it to the store for full refund without a restocking fee, so I still bought it. It's on a credit card that I pay in full every month, so I don't really have to pay for it if I return it within the card's grace period.

Unfortunately, the local ebay seller for the charger did not get back to me within 3 hours of my purchase No email, no phone, no text. sigh. They are closed over the weekend. So my "new" K-r is likely a useless brick at least until monday.

When you take that into account, it's not as great of a deal.
If anyone got a new unit with dual lens for $299, you are lucky.

Well i decided not to go and take a look at the demo unit... Sounds like they abused it... Owell hope you get it working for ya...Red or Black?

[Medium FormatPro]

i added it to cart, it really is 299, but you have to do it through in-store pickup. too bad i dont have a spare $300 lying around...

There's always a payday loan place around somewhere; it will only cost a three hundred dollar loan about nine hundred dollars

[mikeSF]

Just came back from Fremont Fry's.

The demo camera was not in great shape, to say the least.

It was missing the body cover and was open (lens off), full of dust on the mirror. But that can be cleaned.
Hopefully there is none on the sensor.

The green dial on top (to change modes) seemed very soft compared to my other cameras, the Pentax K200D and Canon T3i. Not sure if it's something particular to this demo unit having been played with too much, or with the K-r model.

But the worst part of course is that once I put the battery in, it just would not power up. The sales person said it had powered up this morning.
I hope it is the fault of the stupid Li-on battery getting discharged and not a bad body. There was no other K-r battery or charger in the store to try.
The manager took 5% off the $299, it came out to $308 with sales tax. Wish it had been more since they advertise dual-lens kit for $299. Has anyone found stock on those ?

I was told if my unit turned out to be defective, I would have 30 days to return it to the store for full refund without a restocking fee, so I still bought it. It's on a credit card that I pay in full every month, so I don't really have to pay for it if I return it within the card's grace period.

Unfortunately, the local ebay seller for the charger did not get back to me within 3 hours of my purchase No email, no phone, no text. sigh. They are closed over the weekend. So my "new" K-r is likely a useless brick at least until monday.

When you take that into account, it's not as great of a deal.
If anyone got a new unit with dual lens for $299, you are lucky.

didja at least get to watch the Tesla coil while you were there?

[madbrain]

Well i decided not to go and take a look at the demo unit... Sounds like they abused it... Owell hope you get it working for ya...Red or Black?

Black.

I called the Sunnyvale store to inquire about their other demo and see if it happens to have the charger.
The very helpful rep on the phone told me that there are some generic battery chargers that will work with the K-r Li- battery. Something the people in the camera department in Fremont did not know.
And Fry's Sunnyvale happens to have these in stock :

FRYS.com
FRYS.com

I got the BCUNI3 which is nicer (with on-screen LCD). It was an open box too. Since they match amazon prices I made them do it. $26.99 plus tax, came to about $30. So with the camera that was $308, total $338, not too bad if the camera is good. I will cancel the charger sale with the ebay seller who didn't come through.

I'm charging the battery in my office right now. I was a bit wary because the charger first recognized it as "6.0V NiCd/NiMH". But after a few minutes it switched to "Li-On 7.2V".

I just put the battery in the camera as I type. It powered up !

I took a picture, but I don't have an SD card, so can't store it. Therefore I cannot review it. I cannot tell the shuttercount either.

The lens looks in good condition though, no scratches.

There is just a lot of dust all around the camera, I guess it's expected for a demo unit, but can be cleaned.

The camera also makes noise when being moved, which is much more worrisome. It sounds like there is something loose in it. My other SLRs don't do that.
If anyone on this thread can shake their K-r just slightly (or even just turn it around) I would appreciate some feedback on how much noise there is. I don't think it's normal .

I think the soft mode dial is not just this unit. I saw the other demo K-r in Sunnyvale, and it had the same soft mode dial. The camera people said the sales manager needs to approve it before they will sell it. Which is strange considering there is the traditional red "sales tag" for demo units marked at $299 just underneath . It's a black and single-lens also.

[madbrain]

I see there is a sticky on the "clunk noise". This is not the same noise I'm talking about. I know what my K200D sounds like when it starts up.
But this K-r is different. Even without battery or being powered up, just handling it and turning it around, it makes noise.
Like, when I switch it from horizontal to vertical position, there is noticeable noise, like some loose parts. Is it just my demo unit or does anyone else hear this too ?

[Philoslothical]

But this K-r is different. Even without battery or being powered up, just handling it and turning it around, it makes noise.
Like, when I switch it from horizontal to vertical position, there is noticeable noise, like some loose parts. Is it just my demo unit or does anyone else hear this too ?

That's the clunk noise, and it's perfectly normal. When the SR isn't engaged, the sensor floats, and shifts around when you turn the camera. Nothing to worry about.

[madbrain]

Philoslothical,

That's the clunk noise, and it's perfectly normal. When the SR isn't engaged, the sensor floats, and shifts around when you turn the camera. Nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't remember ever hearing that noise when turning my K200D around, and I do that quite a bit since I have the vertical grip.
Is the noise just more pronounced on the K-r body ? I guess I need to go home and put them next to each other to find out.

Last weekend was my first time test driving my 3-week old used Canon T3i out of the house It took good pics, but the 18-55 lens was too limiting.
There is supposed to be great beach weather coming this weekend. I think I will test drive the "new" K-r with the DA 18-250.

[Philoslothical]

I don't have a K200D (or any other body, besides the K-r), so I can't tell you what's normal for it. I can say that for the K-r, it's quite a loud clunk, and is quite disconcerting if you don't know to expect it. So many people have posted about this, worried that their camera was defective or shoddily made, but it's just how it works - and it does work well. I've seen no signs that having the sensor shifting around freely will harm it in any way.

Perhaps the sensor in the K-r can move more than in older models. I'd expect some small refinements to the SR system over the years, and that would be a logical explanation. I'm just guessing though.

[magkelly]

If I'd still been living near a Fry's, I'd have been tempted to go out and rob a bank or something. That was too nice, even for a demo. I mean if they are still under warranty and Pentax will fix them anyway, then why not? Particularly if it had been the two lens kit. I'm not even particularly panting for a K-r and I'd have probably done it if I could have...

[lmd91343]

I take it that you have never been to a Fry's? There was another thread about people ordering a Q from QVC when they saw that it was being offered for $300. Of course it was a mistake and people received some lowly Optio instead. Fry's is QVC with a parking lot.

I've shopped at three Fry's stores in the L.A. area many times. They all have very good customer service except for waiting to checkout or for sales floor help. Every employee has been has been helpful and polite. My product return experience has been positive (except for the waiting). Techincal questions (some quite esoteric) have been answered. Sale and nonsale items have been placed on hold when requested over the phone. The prices are usually good too.

The bad is they have driven smaill electronic stores in the area away because Fry's had better prices. Oh, did I say that sometimes you need to wait to checkout or get help. Customer wait time is the only significant flaw that I have seen.

Plus the stores have the coolest decor!