Introduction
Asutsitrail (discount)
Battery Junction (discount)
All-purpose vendors
Amazon.com
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I’ve ordered hundreds of items from amazon over the past few years. Their return policies are superb, their shipping prompt, and the amazon prime program extremely convenient (and money-saving—figure out your cost/mile to drive to a store and back).
IMPORTANT NOTE: I recommend amazon.com itself (eg any item stating “Ships from and sold by Amazon.com”). However, amazon.com also allows 3rd-party vendors to offer products on the amazon web site. I do not endorse these vendors in any way; some are highly reputable, but some are of dubious quality. And all of them can set their own policies for returns, etc.
For example, I tried two point-and-shoot digital cameras in June 2006. I wasn’t happy with their performance, and so I returned them—zero hassle and prompt refund. I’ve done the same with lenses that have had optical problems, such as the Canon EF 70-200 f/4L. In each case, there were no questions asked—just send it back and a refund was promptly issued.
Photography & computers
Adobe systems
Adobe systems makes terrific software, including Photoshop, Acrobat and DreamWeaver (used for this website). Click the link below to go to the Adobe online store.
The Apple Store
Click any of the links below. If you are interested in other products, just start with the Apple Store link (green).
The “.mac” service.
Those of you who have paid for and downloaded a diglloyd article might have noticed that I host the huge (50-180MB)
download files on “.mac”. I have had no glitches or problems with this service, and its offerings of web,
mail and other features are first-rate. I
recommend it to my friends and family.
B&H Photo Video
B&H Photo Video offers a vast line of photographic products, cameras, video, computers, etc. Prices are about as low as you’ll find, and they are extremely reliable. I’ve ordered a lot of gear from B&H, though I often buy locally from Keeble & Shucat (above) for cameras, lenses, etc.
Unlike some stores, B&H does not take pre-orders for products that haven’t yet shipped (at least not via the web site), which is both disappointing (sometimes), but also avoids any misplaced expectations about availability and delivery timeframe. My experience has been that when the B&H website indicates that it has something in stock, it is in fact in stock, and ships as promised.
FirmTek
FirmTek offers serial ATA enclosures and adapters.
Keeble & Shucat Photography
Keeble & Shucat Photography is the premier San Francisco Bay Area camera store. I buy most of my high-end gear here.
Picture Element
Proprietor Mike Chambers (no relation) has years of prior experience, most recently at Calypso Imaging (formerly in Santa Clara, now in Santa Cruz). While Calpyso Imaging is an excellent company to do business with, Picture Element deserves your strong consideration, especially if you live in the San Jose area. It’s a small shop, offering a number of services such as print-making, fine-art reproduction, GatorFoam mounting and personal attention—give them a try!
Please see Printing on Canvas for more.
Really Right Stuff
Really Right Stuff offers ballheads, camera plates, L-brackets, etc. Top quality.
SATech (RamFinder)
SATech.com offers computer memory. I’ve had excellent results with their memory, but I do recommend paying the small premium for “OEM quality” memory. See Mac Pro Memory.
Other vendors
Asutsitrail (Austin Trail)
Special deals for diglloyd.com readers: Asutsitrail is offering free shipping in North America. Use code “BIKELLOYD”. Alternately, take 5% off on any Lupine Betty bike light/headlamp.
Asutsitrail caught my attention when I was looking for a Lupine Edison bike light in August 2006; I bought a Lupine Edison 5 from them. Subsequently I bought several other items. They are steadily adding items to their mix, mostly sports and recreation items such as flashlights, bike lights, tents, water filtration, etc.
The site is not large and complex like some huge sites are, and they responded personally to emails on numerous occasions—no canned responses. Here are other things I liked a lot about them:
- very sturdy well packed boxes that arrived on time (I liked the box enough that I saved it!);
- willingness to customize a product that isn’t necessarily sold that way. Specifically, they were able to substitute batteries for me on a Lupine lighting system;
- the willingness to exchange a specialty lighting system for another.
In this day and age, it is refreshing to deal with a vendor who wants to earn your business.
BatteryJunction.com
 SPECIAL 5% discount for diglloyd.com readers. |
Diglloyd.com is pleased to offer its readers a special 5% discount off the already low prices at batteryjunction.com using coupon code “diglloyd5”. The code will be good until further notice. You must remember to use the code at checkout—after-the-fact discounts will not be honored. This discount is a pure service to diglloyd.com readers, with no remuneration to diglloyd.com as of August 2006.
Note that some items already have a free ground shipping coupon applied, and that if you apply the “diglloyd5” coupon, then it removes the free shipping (the shopping cart can handle only one coupon). Instead, enter “please apply coupon diglloyd5” in the Notes section at checkout. Batteryjunction.com states that the 5% discount will be applied as a post-sale credit, even though it does not show in the order. I placed an order recently to confirm this.
I’ve purchased CR123 batteries at batteryjunction.com multiple times for about $1.00 each. Prices are excellent, shipping is prompt, and quality has always been excellent. CR123 batteries in particular are as low as $1.00 each, and my testing with Surefire flashlights shows them to last just as long as the $2.00 Surefire-brand variety. Perhaps there is a difference for some applications, but for “burning up” in a flashlight, they work great.
Shown below is a 50-pack; since they last for a decade, just buy a 40 or 50 or 100-pack and store it in a drawer for convenience. Everyone should have a durable and reliable flashlight with long-life batteries at hand for emergencies! A Surefire flashlight and CR123 lithium batteries are an excellent solution, and you can enjoy the pleasure of an outstanding light for many years.
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The discount is good for everything at batteryjunction.com—so get an awesome SureFire flashlight at 5% off the already low prices. Some items might quality for free ground shipping (availability may depend on the product).
Etheric networks
Etheric Networks is my internet service provider (ISP). High-speed residential or business wireless service for the San Francisco Peninsula at speeds up to 30 megabits symmetrical. Reliability is very high, though not perfect.
Gretna bikes
Gretnabikes.com is the distributor for Gretna and Guerciotti
bike frames, Lupine Lighting Systems and a few other
products. Very approachable, and I was able to email and call with questions and get answers to my detailed questions. Asutsitrail (see
below) sells Lupine Lighting Systems lights , and Gretna
drop-ships for them. Both of them deserve your patronage; which one you choose is up to you.
Conclusions
The products and vendors recommended on this page are the ones I trust and value. No guarantee can be made that you’ll have a perfect experience, but my standards are very high, and I only add items to this page that have my strongest endorsement.
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