Staples Has Changed Their Warranty Policies

My new camera! Purty, ain't she?

I've long been a fan of Staples and their warranties on my digital cameras. The policy is not cheap but it provides a nearly iron clad protection against damage or outright destruction. The only thing it didn't cover was loss.

But, having just traded in my Canon SD790 IS today, I opted not to drop the extra large chunk of change on the warranty because it represents a tax of 30% on the cost of the camera. The camera is $200 and the warranty would have run another $60. And that's just not really worth it to me. Especially given the ever downward spiral of the prices of pocket cameras as the manufacturers try to hold on to some market share in the wake of smartphones ascendence as general carry camera. Don't believe me, check out the top camera being used on Flickr, its the iPhone, not a "real" camera.

Trading Up

My little Canon SD450 pocket camera is dying. Which isn't such a terrible thing as I've got a long no-hassle warranty on it and, for the cost of the warranty, I can upgrade my phone for about $50 every couple of years.

I just got off the phone with the Staples up the street and they have a delectable new Canon SD1100 IS on hold with my name on it.

So I'm off, with my two boys, to go trade in the broken for the slick and brand new!

[Update: Well that was a pretty easy exchange and purchase. I traded in the broken SD450, got the reserved SD1100 IS, added a new 2 gig hi-speed SD card and the 2 year no-worries-mon warranty. The only color they had available was a dark, almost reddish, brown. Not too bad but it wouldn't have been my first choice. At least I didn't have to get the pastel pinkish red one. I'll take some image stabilized macros after Grady goes down for a nap to show off how crisp and nice the images it takes are.]

Freakish Bi-Coastal Camera Soul Swap

In what may just be an odd coincidence, my mother's digital camera died recently and my old "dead" Canon S400 came back to life.

My mother's camera became afflicted with the dreaded and too-well-known E18 error, much more info about the E18 at E18Error.com. Basically, the cameras have a defect in them that "bricks" a camera. A bricked camera, for those not up on geek vernacular, is when a previously usable bit of technology expires and turns into an expensive brick, useful for just about nothing.

I would be seriously bummed if my SD450 were to brick itself but then I'd just go up to Staples with my 3 year extended warranty and select a shiny new model so it wouldn't be too bad. Extended warranties are, by and large, scams but I've had excellent results in having them on my digi-cams. I've replaced several cameras that developed "issues" during use, from a gasket coming lose, to a hairline crack in the center of the lens to accidentally sitting on the camera and fracturing the LCD screen. And, for $50, I get a new camera and a new warranty. It is a great deal!