I am considering purchasing a Sony Mavica (MVCFD73) Digital camera for my husband for Fathers Day. The store salesman advised the only other equipment I would need to fully operate this system is the blue disk for a cost of approx. $80. Can someone advise if it is this simple he stated all we had to do was take the pictures, put the disk into our disk drive and see the pictures, print them or forward them to the people we want to have them. I would like simple instructions if someone has the time to write them for me so I can make up my mind if this is too much of a challenge or if there is a better camera that would be easier for us to invest in - we are both 65 years old and are just learning about the digital cameras. Thanks for your help

-- Effie L. Barrett (Bar4800@aol.com), June 11, 2000

Answers

Hello Effie:
First I'd like to get some clarification: The blue disk the saleman is referring to is just a standard 3.5 inch floppy disk. This is what has made the Mavica line of cameras so popular. Did the salesman really say 80-dollars? He should have said 80-Cents! And you will want more than one disk - you'll want to buy a pack of 50 to start with. That should run about 12-dollars. Oh - and they don't have to be blue - Sony might like you to buy Sony disks, but any good quality 3.5 inch floppy disk will do. The Mavica saves images on very inexpensive floppy disks - for 80-dollars you can buy enough floppies to last until your grandchildren's retirement.
The resolution of the FD-73 is good enough for 4 X 6 prints of decent quality. Bigger prints are not going to look great - but that doesn't sound like it would be an issue for you. The images saved on disk are of a small enough size that they are easy to email - so this sounds like a good camera for you and your husband Effie. You will want to have someone teach you how to attach images to emails - though you may already know (it's pretty easy).
For the FD73 you should not be paying more than around 500- dollars - maybe a little more if it comes with a case and some accessories.
Good luck Effie - and enjoy your retirement.

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), June 11, 2000.

If your salesman really tried to extort $80 for the disk, then the first thing you need is a different salesman at a different store.

That is totally unacceptable.

-- Greg Philmon (gphilmon@yahoo.com), June 12, 2000.

Dan, your answer is the BEST I read so far on this board. Great advices.

-- Tanasit Siriluck (tanasit@flashcom.net), June 18, 2000.