I bought another gateway dv-s20. mimi camera,I sold the other one because I could not get it,( seemd to dificult for me to use ) but decided to re think the matter and got another one today. my question is, are card readers good to have instead of using your camera to down load pictures onto the computer? Can I scan the card from a card reader right onto a cd thru my cd burner? and one more question please, it has an internal 64mb memory in it already but I was thinking of getting a memory card for extra pictures on my disneyland trip. do I put the card on after I used up all the internal memory, or right away so its there as back up? I am so in the dark these days!
I really want to be able to take lots of pictures, but have never done the digital before. I have a mavica 73 and it uses floppy disks. So this is all new to me. thank you now understanding for all these questions and for your wonderful answers ! **Karla

http://accessories.gateway.com/AccessoryStore/Consumer+Electronics_381930/Video_381939/Digital+Camcorders_372770/7004883_ProdDetail.htm

I also ordered the accessory kit because I wanted to be able to recharge the batterys. I took a few pictures with the last camera I had and they came out pretty nice, and I want something real small so I can put it in a waist pack along with money ,passes, room key etc.
I am new to secure cards, and they function, and how to use them. Also I heard if you shut the camera off you could lose your pictures? not sure how to prevent this but if any one can help me and give me some simple easy to understand info I would really appreciate it. I want to go get a sd card, and a reader if you think this is a must ( the reader) and the card for extra pictures of my trip.
thank you a head of time **Karla

Ok. I'll do this step by step:

1) Put the SD card into the Camera
2) Now, instead of just 64MB Memory, you have something like 128 or 256, depending on how big a card you bought
3) Take all the pictures you want
4) Turn the camera off (you will not loose pictures by turning the camera off. Its just like a regular camera when you are shooting)
5) Plug the camera into your computer.
6) Use the included software to download the pics onto your computer


Basically:
You don't loose pics if the camera is off

Plugging it in directly is better than having an extra card reader (it just adds bulk)

To burn onto a CD, first download the pics onto your computer, then use your fav. Burning Program to put them onto your CD

You can put the SD card in anytime, it just adds more to the memory you already have

I will go and purchase an extra memory card today.
some one told me a card reader saves the life of the battery and that I needed one. if this is not the case then I am set. thanks much

Check Costco for the extra memory cards. We bought some today and it was way cheaper than anywhere else.

I live about 100 miles away from one, and by the time I spend the money to go there I never save in the long run.
I saw one on ebay, looks cheap and it was 128 MB is this good? only 10.00 new. a sandisk I believe.
They are very expensive, but it says this camera holds 500 pictures with 64 MB so I thought with the 128 mb that would be enough, what do you think?

I live about 100 miles away from one, and by the time I spend the money to go there I never save in the long run.
I saw one on ebay, looks cheap and it was 128 MB is this good? only 10.00 new. a sandisk I believe.
They are very expensive, but it says this camera holds 500 pictures with 64 MB so I thought with the 128 mb that would be enough, what do you think?


I wouldn't buy off ebay. Try pricewatch.com or amazon.com. The 500 Pictures is on the lowest quality possible. Which really looks bad. You can probably get 100 or so off 64 MB in the higest quality (which is closer to the quality of a film picture) . If you are good with this, you don't even need to buy a card. If you want more, a 64 MB card will add 100 pics, a 128 MB will add 200, and so on.

You can also buy from Costco online (http://costco.com/).
Here's the direct link to the cards, digital memory (http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=subcat%2Easp&catid=79&subid=2109&log=&NavTop=).

is this not a good brand? there is so many out there and I am confused! The one I saw on ebay is new in unopend package. I buy from ebay several times a week some times, I never got a bad deal yet. Of course there is always a first time LOL! Tell me, what brand is the best ? also I do hope I can get good quality photos. I will have to learn how to set the camera to high quality. I hope there is a function to do this on it.
Any one of you used this camera before?

is this not a good brand? there is so many out there and I am confused! The one I saw on ebay is new in unopend package. I buy from ebay several times a week some times, I never got a bad deal yet. Of course there is always a first time LOL! Tell me, what brand is the best ? also I do hope I can get good quality photos. I will have to learn how to set the camera to high quality. I hope there is a function to do this on it.
Any one of you used this camera before?


Sandisk is a very good brand. I don't suggest buying off ebay, however, because it might be a corrupted disk, may contain a virus, or might not be the correct kind that they are advertising it as. It is very easy to close a open box to make it look "unopened".

Basically, every brand is the same, becuase they all adhere to the same guidelines.


The setting to change the quality should be in the menu. I suggest you read the manual to find out more.

2MP is fairly good quality, as long as you don't blow it up bigger than 4x7 or so. After that, you start to see pixels.


On pricewatch, a 64 MB card starts at $21, and a 128MB starts at $28. Very good prices.

is a flash card the same is a secure digital card? I am at a loss. And I am now on price watch and cand not find the card I need. I see flash card, is this the same? thanks again

is a flash card the same is a secure digital card? I am at a loss. And I am now on price watch and cand not find the card I need. I see flash card, is this the same? thanks again

(nevermind what I was saying - I deleted it because it turns out I don't know.)

I can attest to buying cameras online from costco. Just bought a few of these (http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=79&subid=83&hierid=4473&prdid=10043874&log=) the other day. They were $10 less then everywhere else and came with an SD card, batteries and a charger, that didn't come with anyone elses.
Great deal and they will take it back down the road for nearly any reason, from what I was told.

Uncompressed file 29 pictures Compressed File 148 pictures
this must have something to do with the quality setting on the camera right?

this was on the advertisement for a 128 sd card

Uncompressed means that it is EXACTLY what the picture took-the computer didn't take anything off of it, even the stuff we can't see.

Compressed means the computer has taken away some of the info from the picture at the loss of quality, but it takes up less room.


I wouldn't go with what they say on the ad, because the amount you can hold depends on your camera, not the card. You can have one camera that can hold 80 pictures on 128, another that can hold 200. It depends on the camera, the type of image it takes, the format it uses, the internal settings, the Megapixels it has, etc.

I will go and purchase an extra memory card today.
some one told me a card reader saves the life of the battery and that I needed one. if this is not the case then I am set. thanks much

Downloading the images directly from the camera will use some of the battery power, assuming you don't have the camera plugged into the charger at the time. This isn't likely a big issue, though, if you are somewhere that you can easily plug the camera back into the charger.

The main advantage of using a card reader over downloading the pictures directly from the camera is that most card readers will transfer the files several times faster. This is particularly true if you are using a USB-2 card reader and the camera only has a USB-1 connection (as most do).

The other major advantage of a card reader is that you would generally leave it plugged into the computer all the time, eliminating the need to plug in the camera cable whenever you want to transfer pictures from the card. Of course, you would still need to plug in the camera cable if you wanted to transfer photos stored in its internal memory.

-Jeff

I feel better about it all now and will be able to make some wise decisions.
You all are great!! **Karla

The accessories I have for my camera that I bring with me when I travel are:


An Extra Battery
Battery charger
Extra Memory cards (I use CF cards and I have 2 @ 256mb and 1 @ 128mb

IF I bring a computer, I also bring along my card reader (which is pretty small).

What I carry with me is the camera, an extra charged battery, and an extra memory card.

my mavica is a must, and also my new digital. I am sure it will be wonderful as soon as I learn how to down load the pictures.
tell me, to down load will they all go into the computer at once or do I have to add each one one at a time? thanks much, also is it smart to take a video camera?

my mavica is a must, and also my new digital. I am sure it will be wonderful as soon as I learn how to down load the pictures.
tell me, to down load will they all go into the computer at once or do I have to add each one one at a time? thanks much, also is it smart to take a video camera?


You can download all in one batch, or one at a time, the option is in your software.


Also, you can record short, low quality videos on your camera. If you want to record videos, Though, you may not want to have to ruin your time by walking and recoding with it.

some say nine pins, some say 6 whats up with that? I though they were all alike? help, I want toget one for my digital camera,what do I get?

See post I posted a few days ago above, I was wondering what SD cards are the best, and also what is your in put on number of pins? some have different number of pins!
I am going to go buy a card at walmart, I see Kodak, and many others, what is the better one to buy?

Most of the SD cards are all the same. They do have the same number of pins, and they all work about the same, so go for the cheapest. :)

some say nine pins, some say 6 whats up with that? I though they were all alike? help, I want toget one for my digital camera,what do I get?

Standard SD Cards all have 9-pins. I'm not sure where you saw a reference to 6-pin cards. I know that there is a miniSD format that is used by some very small devices (mostly cell phones), but I'm not sure if they have use fewer pins or not. I know that miniSD cards come with an adapter that allow them to be used in regular SD slots. The Gateway camera definitely uses regular SD cards.

If you do some web research, you can find some articles providing comparisons between different brands of SD cards, generally based on speed/performance tests. There are differences in the file access speeds between different models of SD cards, but I honestly doubt you will find those differences to matter much for use in a digital camera. The speed differences really are mainly of interest to those using SD cards as primary storage devices for PDAs or laptops.

My recommendation would be to focus primarily on the amount of memory in the card, essentially buying the highest-capacity one that you can afford. Based on current pricing, I would recommend buying a minimum of a 128MB card. If you can afford a larger one, you would be able to take more pictures at a higher resolution (and, thus, higher quality) without having to download them as frequently. I use a 512MB card in my Canon digital camera and generally keep the resolution set to 1600x1200 pixels with the mid-level compression rate. With that set up, I end up photos that generally do just fine both for web use and for printing. The card can hold around 800 pictures at that setting.

Currently, you should be able to find a 128MB card for around $40-$50, a 256MB card for around $60-$75 and a 512MB card for around $100-$125. If you want to get onto the lower ends of those ranges, you might want to consider shopping online instead of buying the card locally.

-Jeff

Thank you so much, I will be buyin g a 256 so I have plenty of pic's of disneyland and all the scenes in california. I am excited to use this and see how well it does. Thank you so much for your help **Karla
p.s. can one take pictures of some one moving? you know like when you put 400 speed film in a regular camera and get a pic of some one jumping in the air? just wondering in case my subjects move LOL! thanks

p.s. can one take pictures of some one moving? you know like when you put 400 speed film in a regular camera and get a pic of some one jumping in the air? just wondering in case my subjects move LOL! thanks

That tends to depend on the camera. Higher end models will let you adjust the shutter speed, which should make that kind of photo work. I'm not familiar enough with the camera you have to know whether it has that capability.

-Jeff