My trusty canon A70 finally bit the dust... or did it?

The camera I use in situations where things getting beat up is a likely possibility, i.e. snowboarding or midget tossing, finally bit the dust after something like half a decade of use. Actually, it didn't really die, the CCD just went out, rendering the camera useless, and merely showing black and white flickering on the screen when in shooting mode. But - alas - there is hope! Perhaps my trusty canon powershot A70 shall live once more! Apparently there is a recall on the CCD chip on this camera and a bunch of others. Rad! In fact, my brother got his fixed not too long ago and so did my mom. So I actually knew I could get it fixed, I just wanted you to think that my poor little camera was gone for good.

graphics tablets - alternatives to Wacom

Any seasoned graphic designer, digital artist, and illustrator knows the value of having a graphics tablet. But what if you don't want to spend tons of money on one? Wacom, the industry standard, does represent quality - but you will pay a premium for the name "Wacom", just as you would pay more for an Abercrombie and Fitch shirt simply because of the brand.

I'm not saying you never get what you pay for. However, in this case, I have noticed no significant quality difference between a Wacom tablet and the lesser known brand that I use: LaPazz. Sounds lame, but it is a great tablet, and buying one instead of a Wacom 8"x6" tablet could save you up to $220. Check it out!

Specifications of the LaPazz WP8060:

• 8" by 6" size
• USB interface
  
• 1024 pressure sensitivity levels
• 2000 LPI resolution
  
• 100 RPS report rate
• Supported in Windows 98SE / 2000 / XP / Vista

Other alternatives:

8" x 6" tablets:

• Genius MousePen 8x6"
• Pablo 8x6" graphics tablet
• Adesso Cyber Tablet 8x6"
• Uc-logic 3d Graphics 8x6"

Other sizes (larger than 8x6"):

• Genius G-Pen F610 6x10"
• Adesso Cyber Tablet 12x9"
• Penpower Tooya Pro 12x10"
• Adesso Cyber Tablet Z12 10x6"
• Adesso widescreen slim tablet 12x7.25"
• Adesso CTZ12A 10x6"