03-08-2003, 06:00 PM
|
|
Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
|
|
Jenneth Buys Pretec 1.3 MP Camera...
"It's CRAP! Unmitigated poo! The image quality is absolutely appalling, and you can forget about taking any pictures indoors. The only time I was able to get anything decent was in bright daylight about 5 cm away from the object. In any other lighting, or any further from the object, those precious memories are going to be blurry indistinguishable blobs."
Wow. 8O There's not any easy to follow up a comment like that! So I'll just add my own two cents: I couldn't have said it any better. Pretec sent me one of these 1.3 MP cameras almost a year ago, and the quality was...atrociously horrific. So bad, in fact, that I was sure I had a defective unit. I sent them the sample images and asked (begged?) for them to comment on it. I couldn't review such a horrible product! I wish I had the images to share with you, because they were so faded I thought I had accidentally activated a "60's faded blurry white-out" filter. :? I sent Pretec several email messages, and they never got back to me about the camera. So it just sits on my shelf now, a sad example of a wonderful idea cursed by poor execution. I suppose I should have said this sooner, but until Pretec takes this camera back, smashes it with a hammer and starts over, no one should buy this camera.
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:07 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 85
|
|
Is it PPCT policy not to publish a review for bad product? Not a flame, just need to know the extent of PPCT review policy so I can find information that will stop me buying product somewhere else instead of waiting for PPCT put out the word.
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:23 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 108
|
|
Real shame about this camera, I was ready to buy it if it turned out right, and have been waiting for an update ever since Jason's original negative report. Looks like Pretec aren't going to sort it.
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:25 PM
|
|
Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Cracknell
Is it PPCT policy not to publish a review for bad product? Not a flame, just need to know the extent of PPCT review policy so I can find information that will stop me buying product somewhere else instead of waiting for PPCT put out the word.
|
A fair question. When dealing with companies who send in products for review, it's fair to give them a chance to respond to issues you're having as a reviewer. In this case, I honestly thought that Pretec has shipped me a defective camera - it was that bad. When they didn't get back to me on the issue, I couldn't in good conscience go ahead and review what I felt was a defective product. Add to this the fact that the card wasn't even shipping yet, and that I received word from a vendor that Pretec had bumped back the ship date several months, and the whole thing got placed on the back-burner. I didn't even know Pretec was shipping the card until I read Jenneth's blurb!
As a reviewer, if you go out and buy the product yourself, you have a lot more freedom to bash it because you know it's a shipping product that other people are buying. That's why I try to review shipping products - Viewsonic sent me a pre-production V35 that had some odd squeaks in it, and I sent it back to them because it's only fair to criticize what the customer is going to get, not what you got (within reason of course).
Now, that's not to say we won't publish negative reviews - this Anycom review should dispel that myth. In general, we try to publish "net positive" reviews - if a product is truly bad, I'd much rather spend my time finding a good product to write about versus a bad one.
The world of editorial independence is so complex. 8O
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:37 PM
|
|
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
|
|
Re: Jenneth Buys Pretec 1.3 MP Camera...
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
"It's CRAP! Unmitigated poo! The image quality is absolutely appalling,
|
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
No, really Jenneth, how do you feel about the camera? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:41 PM
|
|
Theorist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 302
|
|
Pretec Camera
What does the camera look like? Could you snap some "pictures" and post them?
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:47 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 88
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Tim Allen
Real shame about this camera, I was ready to buy it if it turned out right...
|
Same here. I'm ready to try video conferencing on my e740, and Microsoft's web page for Portrait lists the Pretec CompactCamera as a supported device. The wait continues. 
http://research.microsoft.com/~jiangli/portrait/
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 06:58 PM
|
|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Tim Allen
Real shame about this camera, I was ready to buy it if it turned out right, and have been waiting for an update ever since Jason's original negative report. Looks like Pretec aren't going to sort it.
|
Yeah, same here too. I got sick of waiting and bought a Casio Exilim 2MP camera instead. I was very glad I did. Unfortunately, it won't work with Portrait...
--janak
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 07:10 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 108
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
Yeah, same here too. I got sick of waiting and bought a Casio Exilim 2MP camera instead. I was very glad I did. Unfortunately, it won't work with Portrait...
--janak
|
Dumb question - how do you connect it to your Pocket PC? I bought a Canon Powershot A40 but this only has USB and TV out.
|
| |
|
|
|
03-08-2003, 07:14 PM
|
|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Tim Allen
Dumb question - how do you connect it to your Pocket PC? I bought a Canon Powershot A40 but this only has USB and TV out.
|
I can't. Like I said, I can't use Portrait with it. 
The Exilim does use SD, though, so I can easily move the images over for viewing...
--janak
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Linear Mode
