[BigMackCam]

If it's any consolation Mike I had an even cheaper El Cheapo Chinese phone (an LZ Blade IIRC) and it worked well for at least 5 years. And it was a thousand times better than the POS Samsung I had before that. I only replaced it earlier this year when it wouldn't run an app that I needed for work and I bought a Nokia. If it hadn't been for that I would still be using it.

Thanks, Carl

My Dad and cousin both use cheap, Chinese-made Wileyfox Spark X smartphones for over two years now with zero problems, and my current-but-soon-to-be-previous phone is an American-brand but Chinese-manufactured BLU Vivo 5R, 3.5 years old and still going strong.

When there's a significant percentage of owners across a large sample size that claim failure, I take notice, but everyone can have one or two products that fail, wherever they're manufactured and however much they cost. That's just bad luck. My last main TV was a Samsung and the screen died just outside warranty. It happens...

[richard0170]

Thanks, Carl

My Dad and cousin both use cheap, Chinese-made Wileyfox Spark X smartphones for over two years now with zero problems, and my current-but-soon-to-be-previous phone is an American-brand but Chinese-manufactured BLU Vivo 5R, 3.5 years old and still going strong.

When there's a significant percentage of owners across a large sample size that claim failure, I take notice, but everyone can have one or two products that fail, wherever they're manufactured and however much they cost. That's just bad luck. My last main TV was a Samsung and the screen died just outside warranty. It happens...

I have been very unlucky with Samsung - 1 TV, 1 tablet and one otherwise much beloved EX-1 camera, all failed just outside warranty. You begin to see a pattern.
Not that Ricoh has been perfect either. The EX-1 replacement GRD iv, also much beloved, had a huge dust spot on the sensor rendering the camera unusable, just outside warranty, and Ricoh wanted to charge me £250 to send it to Germany to be fixed, about £100 more than the camera was worth at the time. This latter experience led me to buy a Fuji XF10 rather than a GRD.

[Benz3ne]

Thanks, Carl

My Dad and cousin both use cheap, Chinese-made Wileyfox Spark X smartphones for over two years now with zero problems, and my current-but-soon-to-be-previous phone is an American-brand but Chinese-manufactured BLU Vivo 5R, 3.5 years old and still going strong.

When there's a significant percentage of owners across a large sample size that claim failure, I take notice, but everyone can have one or two products that fail, wherever they're manufactured and however much they cost. That's just bad luck. My last main TV was a Samsung and the screen died just outside warranty. It happens...

My mam has been using a Wileyfox Swift 2 until just last week, bought probably around 3 years, shortly after it's inception.
The only reason she upgraded was because I have upgraded recently to an iPhone 11 and my iPhone 7 was going spare. Good job as hers was starting to show its age - the screen looked as though it was on its way out. Still useable, but she's enjoying the new/old phone.

[noelpolar]

Serious month for GAS for me. A to good to be true deal popped up on a Fuji GFX 50r and I bit.....which led to ordering the gf 30 f3.5 and the GF 50 f 3.5 and a fotodiox m42 to gfx adaptor... I am sure I will need to crop task a bit but hey there are 50 mp ... the 50 1.4 super tall will be interesting (40 equivalent with 1.2 dof) and I will use the 105 2.8 as a portrait lens for now. Mostly I got this for landscapes though . Going to have to stop now so I can still afford to retire in 4 years....

I think you win todays purchase comp. Anyway... I am retired so can mind the gear for the next 4 years for you if you like.... this is me sorta giving back to the working.... xmas spirit and all.

[disconnekt]

Arrived just now - unfortunately the case it was housed in had a bit of foam deterioration... a very speedy clean up later and I can confirm it is absolutely pristine.
The glass is spotless and with a typical thoriated yellow aura about it.
The focus is well damped and smooth.
The aperture is tactile, with soft clicks throughout the aperture.
It stops down wonderfully.

I just need my camera back to use it now!

To quote Smokey from the movie Friday: "Y'all ain't never got two things that match. Either ya got Kool-aid, no sugar. Peanut butter, no jelly. Ham, no burger." 😂😂

[Benz3ne]

To quote Smokey from the movie Friday: "Y'all ain't never got two things that match. Either ya got Kool-aid, no sugar. Peanut butter, no jelly. Ham, no burger." 😂😂

Never a truer word spoken.

[eddie1960]

I think you win todays purchase comp. Anyway... I am retired so can mind the gear for the next 4 years for you if you like.... this is me sorta giving back to the working.... xmas spirit and all.

Very generous of you but sadly Goldwater is too far for me to come visit it on weekends

---------- Post added 24th Dec 2020 at 05:39 ----------

My Prime membership has paid for itself over and over again in waived shipping costs.


Steve

Both mine have as well. My personal between amazon tv and free shipping more than pays for itself. The one I use for business purchasing doesn’t have the tv but I get terms and free shipping and many discounted business priced items

[Jonathan Mac]

A friend of mines brother died of cancer recently. She asked me to help her clean out his house. He was a hoarder. The place was a disaster with crap everywhere.
I found his camera bag which she said I could have. It contained a Minolta XE-7 (meter not working) and three Minolta lenses.
A Minolta MC Zoom Rokkor-X 100-500mm 1:8 with hood, a Minolta MC W.Rokkor-X 24mm 2.8 with hood and caps, but the best was this Minolta MC Rokkor-X PG 58mm 1.2 with front and rear caps and original rare hard to find D55NC hood. All were in excellent clean condition.

Wow, a 58/1.2 and for free!! You are very lucky and I would second a nice gift for your friend.

Yesterday I received a second Z1 with a 28-80mm power zoom. Having tried a Z1 and liked it, I now keep my eye open for any others at a decent price.

[Lord Lucan]

.
Ebay Job Lot

Not bad for £13.10 including postage, and all working (I took a chance). I already have an AF280T but this one is better (near mint condition and it charges quicker), and it came with the instructions and case. Only flaw is that the previous owner had left on the gold oval QC sticker on (I hate those things) so it has left a discolouration mark.

Those are Vivitar Auto extension tubes and came with its end caps. Crikey, sellers are asking £5 each just for lens caps on Ebay these days!

I shall throw away the Starblitz 216; it has a wonky foot and the trigger voltage is 210V (I've just measured it) - so I don't want to risk it being put on a modern electronic camera. It is absolutely basic, no-one wants to buy things like that anyway, and Ebay is full of them.

[steamloco76]

Two scores on Mercari
I couldn’t find the deal I wanted on a HD DA 21 Limited so I decided to look for the original DA 21mm limited. Missed two here on the Marketplace (one because the seller ignored me). Looked a fleabay. Mostly slow shipping from Japan putting the price with tax close to $300. Found a nearly new one on Mercari with box, etc for $219, $9.99 UPS 3 day shipping plus tax- $242 all in. A tiny bit high however- My first buy netted me a $20 coupon for any item over $50.

Looking around, lots of junk on Mercari, however there are some pretty nice Pentax items too. A couple of Sears m42 55/1.4s, a Rikenon 55/1.4, SMC 30/2.8 (rare), a few MXs, K-10Ds. Then I see a SMC-A 50/2.8 Macro . nice shape listed for $119 with free shipping. Do I need another 50mm, NO. Do I need another Macro lens, NO. Did my GAS make me try for a bargain? YES. Offered $102. Accepted with tax $85. Not too bad for a clean SMC-A 50/2.8 Macro with caps.

[stevebrot]

.
Ebay Job Lot

Not bad for £13.10 including postage, and all working (I took a chance). I already have an AF280T but this one is better (near mint condition and it charges quicker), and it came with the instructions and case. Only flaw is that the previous owner had left on the gold oval QC sticker on (I hate those things) so it has left a discolouration mark.

Those are Vivitar Auto extension tubes and came with its end caps. Crikey, sellers are asking £5 each just for lens caps on Ebay these days!

I shall throw away the Starblitz 216; it has a wonky foot and the trigger voltage is 210V (I've just measured it) - so I don't want to risk it being put on a modern electronic camera. It is absolutely basic, no-one wants to buy things like that anyway, and Ebay is full of them.

Congrats on the nice haul. That is a nice extension tube set and you should not have any problem finding a new home for whichever AF280T is deemed surplus.


Steve

[surfar]

MacMini,first Apple product I've owned since the 3S phone.First Mac computer.

As Tom Cruise said "I feel the need for speed",its fast for the $(entry model).

[BigMackCam]

MacMini,first Apple product I've owned since the 3S phone.First Mac computer.

As Tom Cruise said "I feel the need for speed",its fast for the $(entry model).

Ahaaa.... Santa's been?

Very nice I hear the performance of these new Macs is really impressive!

Merry Christmas, matey

[surfar]

Ahaaa.... Santa's been

Yes,he(or she?I always thought those beards were fake!) was early and let me set up before today.

[Canada_Rockies]

MacMini,first Apple product I've owned since the 3S phone.First Mac computer.

As Tom Cruise said "I feel the need for speed",its fast for the $(entry model).

I went Mac a few years ago when M$ decided to trash my 2 year + 1 month old top of the line ASUS laptop with M$ updates you cannot turn off. As with most of us in IT it was backed up to the nines, but it was still a pain to replace the laptop with a MacBook Air 8Gb RAM + 512 Gb SSD. Then to run my DB development software, I had to license Win 10 again and purchase Parallels for another $100 so I could run it side by side with Windows. Then, of course I had to reload all the software, etc. etc. etc.

The best speed enhancement with the Mac is the speed of its periodic updates. No more hanging around for several hours so I can click the magic button at the right time.

I needed far more the reliability of the admittedly expensive Apple product, but the reliability was worth the money.