Mike Mclain

I have a broken tilt mechanism on my patio umbrella. The button slider has snapped in half, leaving the top portion flopping around. Is it possible to repair just the tilt mechanism or does it require the whole mechanism be purchased as a complete assembly?

I'd like to try some high dynamic range edits on photos, but it seems as if most, if not all of the (HDR)programs require the use of another higher end (Photo Shop, etc) editing package. I'm somewhat familiar with NIK and others, but would ideally like to try it on the cheap. I do most of my photo editing with basic freebie programs, such as Windows Picture Gallery, Picasa, etc. I have a Corel program, but it's too buggy to use. Any thoughts

I'll be needing a new laptop in the near future, My current Dell Intel Inspiron (15.6") i3 , 4GB memory is nearly three years old & i'm outgrowing it. Photography is one of my main interests, so I have thousnds of stills and videos. Storage space isn't really an issue, it's the handling, editing and transfer of these images I'm more concerned about.

Up until now, I've been waiting for the new 3rd generation hardware & USB 3.0 to become available. The only other item I'm aware of on the horizon is a new, better wireless standard, that would be very desirable.

My real question is - where is the best place to buy a new laptop. I do like my current Dell, but would like to get opinions on other makes and/or sellers. Considering all aspects of a purchase: product quality, price, support and customer service. I'm open to any suggestions as far as make, features & seller.

The built in flash on my Canon XTi won't pop up. It has been working fine with no issues then suddenly for no apparent reason the flash won't raise either automatically as it should in the auto modes or manually (using the flash button) in P, TV, AV or M settings. I've erased all of the camera settings including Cn custom settings to get it back to factory default levels, but the flash still won't pop up.

Any thoughts would be helpful, Thanks, Mike.

I've been looking to buy a new wide angle zoom lens for my Canon dSLR & I've narrowed it down to a few lenses. Price is a big issue for me, but getting a good lens comes first. I recently bought a Sigma tele lens & was very impressed with the the build as well as image quality. Among the finalists so far is a Sigma 10-20mm that's within the price range I could handle. I know Tamron recently had a rebate program (now expired) where a comparable lens would have qualified, but I wasn't able to act then. Does anyone know of any mfrs. discount or rebate programs that typically are offered seasonally? I'd be willing to delay a purchase for a reasonable length of time if something might be available in the near future. Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated.

Will opening the main breaker on the breaker panel do anything to prevent a surge from entering the house's electrical system. Does this do any good to stop a problem during a storm or period of inactivity. After thinking about this, I've wondered if the open breaker could still conduct power if a surge could arc across the open circuit & still cause damage to any electrical device connected in the house?

What does the S designation stand for on Canon EF lenses? As in EF S. I know EF is the common Canon mount, but don't know what the difference is with the EF-S.

I'm planning on upgrading to a new Canon dSLR Since I have three Canon lenses & accessories that suit my usual shooting needs, it's practical for me to stay with a new Canon body. I've been looking at most of the current models & narrowed my choices down to 3 models: T2i. T3i or 60D. After poring over the specs for the three, I haven't been able to cost justify the extra (+$100- $300. approx.) between each of the three.

My observations at this point:

T2i - current choice $700.

T3i - second choice $800., addl. features articulated LCD, external audio jack, flash sync connector, higher ISO options& more video scaling options.

60D - third choice - $1000. addll. features stronger battery, faster burst rate,better build quality.

All prices are for body only and are approx.

If anyone has gone through this comparison process & has some strong opinions, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

At what number of shutter releases does a cameras resale value decline? What is considered a low or a high volume. I realize there are many other factors that affect it's worth, but I'm strictly wondering about releases.

I recently acquired a Canon XTi dSLR camera. I'm relatively new to digital photography, but I've spent many years using high end film SLRs. My question is can I use a Vivatar 283 flash as a TTL device triggered from the camera's hot shoe without potentially causing any damage to the camera? The Canon Speedlites are rather pricey & if possible I'd like to use my trusty old Vivatar unit, but certainly don't want to risk frying the camera. Any thoughts or advice?

What is needed to be able to use the new USB 3.0 devices? If I have Usb 2.0 now will a whole new set of jacks be needed? Can 2.0 be adapted to 3.0 & if so what needs to be done to a PC to use a 3.0 device? Is this new standard something that I'd have to wait to use, by having it included in the hardware of a new PC & 3.0 devices?

I recently bought a 42" Panasonic plasma tv & it's picture resolution unbelievable. Even more recently, I got another set for a bedroom. Since a 32" was the max size I could fit there I had to pick an LCD. Both TVs are 1080p resolution, but their resolutions are very different. Although the LCD is good, it doesn't come close to the bigger plasma. There are differences in the specs, of course. The plasma has a 6 million to 1 contrast ratio vs 50,000 to 1 for the LCD. The refresh rate is 600 hz for the plasma vs 120hz for the LCD.

Is it wrong to for me expect the two TVs to be close to comparable as far as a great picture?

I'd like to get an external drive to back up my laptop's 500 gb drive. After looking at many I still can't figure which would be the best for my needs. My internal drive has about 90 gb on it now, but I plan to do a fair amount of photo & video editing. I mainly use my pc at home, so I don't know if makes a difference - portable or desktop model. If possible, I'd use that drive in the event the internal crashed.

What I'd like to do:

1/. Backup the internal drive completely (personal files, applications & OS).

2/. Get a reliable brand.

3/. Do routine backups automatically.

4/. When not doing backups, just keep it in a drawer for emergency use.

Why is the aspect ratio different from one channel to another on an HDTV? There is also different formats on the same channel between some commercials & other programming. Why is that?

I have a small Western Digital external drive that I'm about to outgrow. I've been wondering what the difference is between the various models within a given mfrs. product. Other than The size of a drive what makes an Element different from a My Passport, etc,? I can't imagine if it's throughput speed, since they all have to flow thru a USB port.. What makes a 2 TB drive with a different model name different? Also is WD a very good name?

I'm planning to get a 32" LCD tv soon. I thought after a lot of research & review reading, I'd narrowed the choices to LG, Panasonic, Toshiba, Vizio or Phillips. I ignored other brands I considered over priced or lower quality. Today a TCL tv caught my eye & I checked the specs, etc which sounded good, especially the 2 year warranty. Since I've never paid much attention to that brand I'd like to know if anybody can tell me of their experience with it.

Why is it that that plasma TVs are only made in sizes above 40"? Their picture is so much better than LCDs or LED/LCDs. I have a 42" Panasonic in my living room & love it. I'd like to get a new TV for the bedroom, but can only fit a 32" max size in there.

One of the USB jacks on my laptop has broken. The little plastic piece inside the jack seems to have broken off. The connection still works, as long as long as the plug is held in place or remains stationary while using a USB device. If I try using a device such as a keyboard light, the plug moves around & loses contact. As a result I don't use that port for an external drive, etc. that needs a constant connection.

I'm wondering if the jack can be replaced or fixed. If it doesn't need to be soldered, I could probably do it myself. Thanks, for any help.

Is it possible to capture a single frame from a video taken from my Nikon coolpix camera? The videos are in 720p & in .MOV format. Some videos include frames that it seems would be hard to get under any circumstances, using only still shots.

I guess this would require converting the video file from .MOV to a JPEG format. Has anyone heard of doing this or is it even possible?

Currently, I have both Microsoft's Security Essentials & McAfee running on my Windows 7 laptop. Occasionally I get a pop-up message from McAfee that a conflict may develop because both are running with real-time scanning. So far I haven't noticed any issues related to this supposedly possible conflict.

What I'm wondering: is there a need for both of them? The Microsoft package is free & the McAfee software has about another year left before I'd have to pay for it. Anyone have an answer or any thoughts on this?