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(COOLLIST) Goes Web Video



Last weekend, after struggling with ACTV's bulky and boring equipment
to get maybe 30 minutes worth of video, 20 of which is worthless,
having to wait 3 weeks to get access to the cameras, and having some
of my footage get shot in VHS mode rather than the SVHS I thought it
was in, I broke down.

On the WWW, there are several good shops.  One is OneCall in Washinton
State <URL:http://www.onecall.com/>.  They sell camcorders and other
audio/video equipment.  They've gotten good reviews on the newsgroups
that count.  I decided to check them out.

The first page that comes up is a list of specials.  I browse it.
Hmm, nice VHS-C units for $600, nice 8mm's for $800... WHOA!  A Nikon
Hi-8 comparable to the Sony TR700 I'd been lusting after for $980.
Cool!  I called their 800 number (1-800-ONE-KALL) for more details.
(As a reference point, Circuitous City sells this during sales for
$1200.  The Sony outlet sells refurbished units for $1070.)

Well, I called at the right time.  They had sold out of the Nikons and
were substituting the Sony's for the same price.  That is customer
service.  I confirmed that they were brand new models with US
warrenty, asked a few questions, ordered it plus a UV filter/lens
protector, and a couple of Hi-8 tapes, and gave them my credit card
number.

Today, the camcorder arrived.  Two days.  That's fast.

Well, I've been using it for a few hours now, and I really like it.
It isn't a wimpy unit.  It is small, but it can be manually controlled
if needed.  It does Hi-8 which is better than broadcast quality.  It
has cool editing functions.  Its got a color viewfinder, a zoom mike,
and Steady-Shot image stabilization.

I love it.

So, now we come to the subject line.  (COOLLIST) does web video.  That
may be stretching it a little.  However, you will soon be seeing lots
of new pictures on my web site, taken with Trippy (the TR700) and
captured with Snappy (the Snappy).  I've already got one up at
<URL:http://www.yak.net/combee/trippy.jpg>.  It's the same shot I sent
to my mom (rcombee@dalton.net) on e-mail.

I'll be putting up lots of pictures of cool stuff here in Austin,
people I know, frames from my show, and oddities.  I'll try to grab a
picture of the Congress sign I mentioned last week.  (COOLLIST) goes
multimedia and you can see it on the web.

More to come soon,
-- 
Benjamin L. Combee (combee@techwood.org) <URL:http://www.yak.net/combee/>
that public-access-TV-making, video-game-collecting, cryptography-pushing,
World-Wide-Web-explaining, fem-music-loving, bad-pun-creating guy in Austin
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