Philips MCM 204

Advantages: Looks great, small size, USB port for direct play from MP3 player
Disadvantages: intermittent fault, customer service not great

...I brought this just before Christmas 2007 as my old stereo had finally given up on me. I purchased this for £69.99 from Argos. I believe that it is widely available from many retailers around the same price. I chose this particular product as it had a nice, modern and sophisticated design which I felt would fit in well with my decor and particularly for the features which is had. It is small in size- the main unit is (H)22.8cm, (W)14.6cm, (D)21.6cm and the speakers are (H)22.8cm, (W)14.6cm, (D)16cm. It also had all of the features I was looking for- a cd player, FM digital tuner and remote control. It also has the capability to play directly from an MP3 player or similar as it has a direct USB connection. I keep a lot of my music on my mp3 player which I download and often never put the tracks onto cd- so this was absolutely...

rachela81 20.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Philips MCM 204

Nikon D90 - My Next 'Last' Camera

Advantages: Movies, LiveView, 12.3 mpixels, build quality, excellent lens range
Disadvantages: Still quite bulky for casual use. Expensive if that's all you want it for

...There?s been a legion of digital cameras that have passed through my hands since they started to become a serious contender for 35mm?s domination of the amateur market. Going from memory, they?ve included Philips, Casio, Canon, Nikon and errr?..Nikon. Of course the last one, my first DSLR, a Nikon D70 was going to be the last; but then we all say that don?t we, lads? What I really meant was ?the last for quite a while?. LOOKS LIKE THE ?QUITE A WHILE? HAS EXPIRED Then my daughter started making noises about a night-school class in photography, where the minimum kit requirement just so happened to be a DSLR, and I got to thinking about letting her have the D70 for a ?song?, whilst good ol? Dad treats himself to the later and much higher-specified D90. Since I bought the D70 four or five years back, things have moved on apace...

BNibbles 04.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Nikon D90

My experience of the Nikon D90 as an amateur photographer.

Advantages: Excellent picture quality, lots of useful features, well designed controls, great kit lens
Disadvantages: More expensive than some other DSLRs, quite big and heavy, limited movie mode

... How I made my choice I recently bought the D90 to upgrade from my Olympus 560UZ bridge camera, so this is my first foray into DSLR photography. Most people starting in DSLR photography will opt for the cheaper D40, or the D60, D70 and D80. I am not particularly rich, and in the end chose the D90 because I didn't want to grow out of the smaller DSLR and have to buy a new body quickly. I have found that the prices of Nikon DSLRs haven't decreased significantly over the last 3 years, so I decided (maybe wrongly) that this option would save me money in the long run. I found that it is very important to go into a shop and hold the camera in your hands before making a choice. All the photography shop assistants said that the Canon series was just as good as the Nikons, but I discounted them because I didn't get on with the feel...

potoroo99 15.09.2009 (22.09.2009) · Read review
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Review of Nikon D90

fujifilm finePix A204

Advantages: very compact, takes great pictures
Disadvantages: doesnt come with charger

...for the flash to work 5.slow synchro- Uses a slow shutter spead and allows you to take pictures of peoples at night. showing clearly the people and background. Storing Photos -------------- The FujiFilm FinePix A204 uses the new xD Card to save images. This is new card which has been developed by Fuji and Olympus. The cards are cheaper than flash cards and smartmedia cards. In theory, I read, they have a capability of storing upto 8GB. You can buy these card in 8mb, 16mb, 32mb, 64mb and 128mb capacity. The 128mb card holding around 150-200 fine quality 2MP pictures, and costing around £40+. SO WHAT ARE YOU SUPPLIED WITH? ------------------------------ The Camera (of course) one 16mb xD Card (20-25 pictures) 2x non-rechargable batteries rist strap USB cable Cd -USB Driver -FinePix viewer -Apple quicktime 5.0 -Image...

paul110 01.02.2003 · Read review
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Review of Fujifilm FinePix A204 Zoom

320d - Potentially expensive failure

Advantages: Preformance, Economy, choice of trim, extras
Disadvantages: reliability - Expensive turbo failure, Rear Seat Space, Boot Space

...This is my first BMW, and I am sorry to say my last. The 320d has a reputation for turbo failure, which I believe applies only to pre July 2003 models. This failure can happen at any time regardless of service history and so cannot be predicted or circumvented and is a widely publicised failure amongst 320d owners on the internet!. The cost of repairing this vary between £2000 - £3000 and is not something which I would expect from a name like BMW. Other drawbacks include driver comfort, which is virtually non existant, after 15 mins in the drivers seat you rapidly experience another feature of the 320D - namely BMW "Numb Bum", which I must admit was not publicised in the brochure. The driving position is also somewhat strange. Both rear seat and boot space are limited and certainly not inline with the size of vehicle, and all BMW...

jamesey 30.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of BMW 320d

New facelifted 320D 1998cc 2002 model

Advantages: Performance, MPG, Quailty
Disadvantages: Rear cabin space, Small boot

...I ordered a 320D SE 1998cc 2002 model from my local BMW dealer in October 2001 for delivery in December 2001. I was impressed with the dealer (Dick Lovett), as the sales guy was not at all pushy but allowed me to take my time looking over the car and responded well to questions I raised. The first test drive I had was with the sales guy and lasted around 40 minutes, he then arranged for me to have the car for the whole day that weekend. This whole day test drive was excellent and really let me get know the car without any sales person around, and after that I was hooked and continue to purchase the car. The list of options available is huge and it took some time to decide what I wanted. This new car was to replace my company Astra and I purchased it myself using my companies opt out option. The car was ordered for December as my...

focus328 06.03.2002 · Read review
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Review of BMW 320d

Canon EOS 450D - Superb!

Advantages: Extremely easy to use, fantastic picture quality, long battery life.
Disadvantages: I haven't found any!

...Introduction I bought the Canon EOS 450D a couple of months ago as my first SLR - and i can honestly say its an absolute pleasure to use. For someone like me who is a total novice in photography terms (but very willing to learn!) this camera is superb. Ease of use My friend and I researched SLR cameras for hours to try to find a camera for me. I can only be described as a beginner but I wanted to take the plunge and do some 'real' photography. The EOS 450D seemed to have everything I was looking for - and it is everything I was looking for. It is a very light, yet sturdy camera that fits comfortably in my hands. The large LCD screen is very sharp which is especially useful when you are trying to change settings, and i was surprised by how quickly i learned what all of the buttons did and also how quickly i was able to take a half decent...

island78 14.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Canon EOS 450D

The EOS 40D Excellent picture quality

Advantages: Excellent picture quality, low noise, now down in price.
Disadvantages: None

...Introduction After several years of using bridge cameras and the like, I thought it was time to move up to a DSLR, after using canon cameras for most of the time in the past, I looked at what was on offer from them, at first I considered the EOS 400 but I decided to go for the newly released and better spec EOS 40D instead, I have used Canon 35mm Film SLR cameras in the past, so I thought I knew what I was in for, but the modern DSLR's are a different beast altogether, and I was pleasantly surprised at what this camera was capable of, it is light years away from my original Zenith camera, and even way ahead of my first Canon SLR which was an advanced and well specified camera in its time. The Canon EOS 40D was first announced in the autumn of 2007, this camera has improved on an already impressive line of EOS cameras, ranging...

Markh5682 08.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Canon EOS 40D

Sony Vaio RA204

Advantages: Style, Sleek
Disadvantages: Heavy, Poor TV Turner

...This is the new Sony VAIO RA204 is the ultimate in cutting edge design and superior performance. I personally love to shape and design of the computer, as it is very sleek and modern. The Specs RAM: 1 GB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR SDRAM - 400 MHz - PC3200 This is a lot of ram but does come in handy when using big files on your computer such as playing big long movies. Audio Output: Sound card - 5.1 channel surround. Nice big sound card very useful for audio editing like music voids and other audio files. Hard Drive: 1 x 400 GB - standard - Serial ATA-150 Bit to big hard drive for me I only use about 180GB of it. But again very useful for heavy video files and big games such as The Sims 2. Video Input: TV tuner This is very useful because I don?t need a separate TV. This particular TV tuner is of poor quality...

ElfabboDesign 07.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of Sony Vaio VGC-RA204

The Canon EOS 50D superb image quality.

Advantages: Superb image quality, well built, High resolution, low noise, Excellent spec.
Disadvantages: Only minor gripes, no CF card included, large and heavy compared to some.

...The Canon EOS 50D This review is based on my own reviews of this camera elsewhere (Amazon) and has been edited for the pupose of posting on here, I hope you will find it useful. I bought this camera almost as soon as it was released, so I have had plenty of time to get used to it, and test it fully before writing this review. Overview The first thing you notice is that this is not a small lightweight camera, but is a solid well built camera designed for serious use, yet despite it's size and weight it is still easy to hold and is comfortable to use, for those of you that have used the EOS 40D it has the same body shell as that, and has the advantage of using the same accessories as the EOS 40D as well. The menu's are well laid out and easy to use making this camera easy to set up and use, the large...

Markh5682 03.03.2009 (28.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Canon EOS 50D