Electronics Stores

Customer Reviews:
Great TV!
I bought this TV to replace a 55″ Mitsubishi HDTV that I have had for 8 years. I have researched the purchase to death for 2 years. I did not want to go down in size, (I considered the 52″ LCD), as the placement would add 2 feet distance, but could not afford the larger LCD. The plasma screen is fabulous. Lots of great features. I bought the Avia II calibration DVD, but the Samsung was spot on in the standard mode. No adjustments needed. We already have a 32″ Samsung LCD in the bedroom and have been very happy with it. This was my first major purchase from Amazon and it could not have gone better. The TV arrived 2 days early and the White Glove service was exactly that. The driver helped unpack and set up the TV. We inspected it and powered it up. No problem. I saved around $1,000. over the big box stores.

This is one AWESOME TV!!
This is the TV to buy! Absolute perfect screen, displys HD broadcasts and movies, etc with perfection. Best choice I ever made. Amazon has such an amazing price that you cannot go wrong buying this TV from Amazon. Local electronics stores want a thousand dollars more for this product. It came in ahead of promised date in perfect condition. Amazon’s white glove shipping service is a great selling point. They bring it inside your house, unpack it, and plug it in to make sure it works before you sign for it. Take my word for it… BUY IT!!

Customer Reviews:
Disappointing - Returned to Amazon
I was looking for a new point and shoot camera, I came across the Pentax W60 before it was released. I was sold on it’s specs, not too mention it is waterproof.

After receiving the camera and trying it out, I became quite disappointed rather quickly.

Poor indoor picture quality.

No zoom buttons on top of the camera, they are on the back.

The flash is too close to where your finger rests, therefore, when the flash fires it can reflect red light off your finger; and since the lens does not extend it captures that reflection.

5x optical zoom was nice, but the autofocus did not keep up with far away action shots.

Thanks Amazon for the easy return procedure.

Great “Fun” Camera
I am a self confessed camera freak. I have owned the Pentax WPi, W10, W30, and now, the W60. My other primary cameras are the Canon SD 870 (with waterproof housing for diving) and a Canon SLR system with L series lenses, etc. I live in Hawaii and I travel for a living and I can say that without a doubt, the Pentax W series have been my “go to” cameras for any activities that involve water, snow, sand, or dirt. They take A LOT of abuse even if they don’t advertise that fact like Olympus. For optical quality in a “friendly” environment when I don’t want to lug my SLR, I prefer my Canon SD 870.

Like many people who somehow trashed their previous W series camera, I have been waiting over a year for the W30 upgrade and I can report that all in all, the W60 is a worthy upgrade to the W30 if only for the 28mm lens. In addition, it’s lighter, the screen is brighter, and it’s got a couple of useful software upgrades. I’ve been using the camera for a month now.

Make no mistake, this is a “fun” outdoors camera. If you’re not going to take your camera in the water, to the beach, or mountain biking stop reading now and find a camera with better optics. The W60 is just o.k. and certainly no worse than the W30. As for the barrel distortion at 28mm, it’s probably just slightly worse than my Canon compact which means that it’s there and noticeable, but for a group shot at the beach or trying to get the full length of a kayak AND the isle in the background, I’ll live with it. You can always just click the lens down to 37mm and eliminate the distortion just like any other compact.

I’ll also confess that I’m a Mac user and therefore don’t know how to read manuals. Because of this, I find the “smile detect” and “blink detect’ features amazingly annoying although they seem to work as long as your subjects are not wearing sunglasses. Fortunately, for illiterate and/or lazy idiots such as myself, you can ignore most features and easily find the important ones like underwater white balance.

Here’s what I like and dislike about this particular model.

LIKES

1) Nothing beats not worrying about sand, water, dirt, or mud. I had the Olympus 1030SW for two days before sand screwed up the retractable lens cover (great idea, poor execution). Also, if you let your kids take photos like I do, you can worry less about camera damage when one of them inevitably throws your camera at the other one or tries to hit them over the head with it in the pool.

2) 28mm lens. It’s an option I’d rather have than not. Also, there is a crazy “wide” feature that’s a bit different than panoramic stitch that actually works pretty well. In a nutshell, two portrait shots are stitched in camera into a 5MP 21mm image. It’s by no means “publish” quality, but I’ve actually been having quite a bit of fun with it.

DISLIKES

1) HD movie clips. I was very disappointed that the 720p movie clips are only 15fps. My old Canon S80 had the same specs and I find the jerkiness too distracting. The initial press release (specs since updated) didn’t disclose this. Oh well. I’d still buy it. 640 movie clips are as expected and the shake reduction works fairly well.

2) Noticeable barrel distortion at 28mm. Like I said earlier, better to have the option available and zoom in when able. Even at 28mm, your shot won’t be ruined. Also, if you have a mother-in-law you can cleverly position her at the end of the frame and the distortion will make her look slightly thinner (in case she accuses your SLR of making her look fat).

3) Still no travel charger included or officially available (which I find inexcusable) although inelegant third party solutions exist online (and the multi battery use ones still work even though they’ve changed the battery model).

4) No external user replaceable lens protecter. Come on Pentax engineers. How hard would it be to design an exterior casing that allowed for a user replaceable transparent protective “filter” like an SLR. There’s a reason I’ve bought four models. I trash them.

Now for the important feature: Underwater Imaging

If you want a camera for scuba diving stop reading now and go buy yourself a Canon with any of their factory built cases. This is not a diving camera.

If you want a camera for snorkeling, kayaking, surfing, or kiteboarding; or if you plan to take your camera to the beach; or if you like hiking in the rain or mountain biking, you will be stoked with this camera. (Previous models I owned worked fine in the snow and cold whereas my compact Canons sometimes freeze) The Olympus 1030SW is a close second for me for the following reasons. 1) I like the rectangle form factor of the Pentax a tad more; 2) I find SD cards more convenient than XD cards (plus I own a bunch and my computer has a slot for them); 3) a personal bad experience with the 1030SW retractable lens cover; and 4) the Pentax is lighter. I think there’s also some merit to the fact that this is Pentax’s sixth generation of W series cameras. They’ve learned a lot. Also, I should mention that I used to use a Sony with a waterproof “Sport” case and besides being just a tad large, the picture quality suffered greatly.

Underwater videos of kids in the pool rock. Videos of them surfing are priceless (buy yourself a neckstrap). Being able to wash your camera off at the end of the day is amazing. It’s also kind of fun to drop it in a mug of beer at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich and freak your friends out.

I highly recommend the Pentax W60 for anyone that has an outdoor lifestyle and likes to record memories. It’s a great secondary camera when paired with something a bit more serious like an SLR. It is not the best camera for going out for a night on the town and it’s not the best camera if you’re going on the vacation of a lifetime that doesn’t involve a lot of water or dirt. Have fun!

If you need a water proof camera this is a good choice
If you need a water proof camera and don’t need to take it below a few feet and want the look of a regular camera this is a good choice.

However, when you cpr. this unit to other non-water proof units of the same price it comes up a bit short. There is a LOT of shutter lag, focus lag, and the camera is challenged by all but bright light conditions.

Image quality in sun light is good but when you shoot indoors, low light, or anytime you need a flash you start to see really long shutter times. If you allow the ISO to move up to reduce the shutter times so you don’t blur the images you start to get a LOT of noise/grain in the photos. Don’t expect to shoot underwater photos of any quality, IMO.

All in all, this is a good choice for a water proof digital that does not look water proof; just understand that you are going to be giving up function and photo quality.

Useless Audio
The audio in movie mode is useless due to the fact that it picks up the autofocus noise from the camera. Sounds like a woodpecker is in all your movies. A VERY loud woodpecker. You can eliminate some of this by turning off the AF in movies. This works as long as your subject stays at the same distance for the whole movie.

That said, I didn’t buy this camera to take movies. As a small point and shoot it works fairly good. Don’t be fooled by the 10 megapixels, though. Pictures are no where near that good. Lots of noise and a weak flash.

But, for a waterproof camera and pictures in the 4×5 range it is the best out there.

An item that has impressed me from the start
I recently got this camera, and it is my third waterproof Pentax camera (had the WPI, W10, and now W60). The first got lost or stolen, and the second I broke some rules in the instruction manual and had it slowly stop working. None of them held up poorly to a heck of a lot of use by me.

I have recommended these cameras to so many people. My life revolves around the water, so a waterproof camera is almost necessary. I must say, though, that even if I didn’t need a waterproof camera I would still look at this camera. The user interface is by far the easiest I’ve seen, and again, I’m comparing to all cameras and not just waterproof ones. This camera takes great pictures and video.

I do use this in the water and underwater very often. Underwater pictures are solid, and video is incredible (you should see my shark cage video!) The only complaint I’ve had with this camera, which I was not a problem with the previous two, is water on the lens. When I pull the camera out of the water, there is one spot on the lens where a big drop of water always sticks. I’ve found that I can do a good job of wiping it off, but it’s simply not as easy as I’d like. Definitely not a reason to not get this camera, though.

I can’t imagine anybody not loving this camera.