stevejcoe.

Please explain how the UK subsidizes our market. Maybe I am having another senior moment !!!!!!!!

It's more to do with the quantities the US businesses buy. Huge amounts of merchandise to support the demand in the USA for the latest and greatest. This is a consumer driven market like nowhere else.
Plus, unlike UK folks, we don't put up with low inventories and bad customer service. I don't believe you will ever hear an American state : "I am very sorry to complain, but the TV I recently purchased from you doesn't work" Not going to happen.

The deals are just as good here as they ever were and more of them, one just has to know the best places to shop. LA and Las Vegas are shoppers heaven for bargains. Oregon where we now live has no state sales tax. That saves us a bundle on top of the great deals. We get millions of visitors each year especially from Washington State, taking full advantage of the shopping. On top of that there are tons of manufacturers shopping outlet mails all over the country, loaded with bargains.

You are correct in there not being many deals on Camera's etc in stores, thats due to not much competition in most towns. We only have two camera shops in our large town, plus Circuit City and Best Buy which are both general electronic stores.

The best deals for Camera's, lenses etc are on Ebay, during the last 5 years all my camera equipment has been purchased this way, new and used including all the Pentax gear.

You do have one conciliation over there. Much better/longer warranties.

RG.

George.

Sorry for the error. Nothing mysterious about minds having senior moments. Most of us old folk have them now and again.

You are way off base with the snotty English comment. I was born, raised and educated in the London area. Moved to the USA in 1963.

So unless we spoke some African dialect back then (I imagine very common now) English was and is my language.

RG.

stevejcoe.

I guess George didn't read my comments.

I don't believe there is another place on the planet that has such good deals
on a constant basis and offers so many rebates and coupons as in the USA.

If you were to see the amount of British tourists in the Las Vegas outlet centers and shops for example, buying up everything insight, one would know what I mean. It's like the feeding frenzy at the zoo.
The Brits fly into Vegas in droves on Virgin and spend spend spend. Our son lives there so we are frequent visitors ourselves.

Same with LA (Lived there 32 years) It's just more obvious in Las Vegas, just because of the constant flow of Brits and the location of the the airport
and hotels very close to shopping.

RG.

Pentax rebates have been going on for some time now. I got the rebates when I purchased back in July. All Pentax does is keep on re-introducing them.

This time they run from Oct 18th 2007 until Jan 31st 2008. They have changed them a bit. One now has to buy the Pentax 50-200mm lens with the camera to get the $25.00 rebate, for a total of $125.00 rebate for camera and lens. They have also dropped the 540 flash rebate to $25.00 (was $50.00)
The Grip is still $25.00 and other lens rebates run $50-$100 dollars.

Rebates and coupons in the US are very common year round for a wide variety of products. If they are not provided by manufacturers, the stores and dealers provide them.

One small example. I purchased a casual jacket back in May, put it on twice and decided I really didn't like it. I finally got around to taking back to the store yesterday. I explained to the sales person the reason and said sorry for the delay in returning it. No problem she said, even though I had lost my receipt. She hands me an in store card with the full credit. I used it for another jacket (40% off) and on check out got another 15% store discount.

There is always a deal here, so much competition, stores and companies have to offer them to stay in business.

The USA is shoppers heaven.

One of the reasons they just don't drop the prices, period. There is always a person that can't be bothered to shop around, or wants it right now and is willing enough to pay top dollar for it.

RG.

KimC.

I just got off the phone with a Pentax Marketing Manager. He informed me The Grip is shipped worldwide without the battery in the box.
He told me that the Pentax USA Headquarters doesn't even get the battery in the grip box.

Suggested Pentax UK, or some dealers in Europe maybe including the factory battery as an incentive, however the buyer is paying for it within the total mark-up.

On a side note, I asked him about any new model based on the K10. He said quote : "You mean like a K20" I said "Yes 12+MP" His answer "Yes" I asked "Will it be out before Xmas". His answer, "Probably, we will not know until about one month prior to shipment."
It was pretty obvious He knew more than he was revealing. We shall see.

RG.

KimC

Not in the USA, unless of course some dealers decide to add an after market battery at a cost.

There have been many complaints over here regarding Pentax not including the extra battery with the grip. I understand some buyers have contacted Pentax and have been sent one free. I didn't bother due to having similar Minolta spares.

We may get cheaper prices here, however the manufacturers appear to deal differently in Europe. You also generally get better and longer warranties than we do. I think it's do with the EU and their Nanny government regulations.

RG.

Gwyn.

I believe the K10 is without doubt the best value for your money out there, as are the two kit lenses. They could have jacked up the price a couple of hundred dollars and it would still be great value.

What I find odd is they made a storage place for the remote in the extra grip and didn't include the remote with the grip package. They could have jacked up the price a little and also included a battery. The fact they didn't include the battery with the grip was a bit upsetting.

It is fortunate I have spare factory Minolta 7D batteries as they are 7.4V as is the Pentax. Only a slightly different rating, the Pentax is 1620mAh and the Minolta is 1500mAh.

RG.

ChrisA.

You pay 1100 pounds over there ? My god you guys really get ripped in Little America.

RG.

Gwyn.

Very interesting. I didn't get into the tech side at the store, already checked all the specs and current reviews. All I know is my 7D is a great base for some wonderful images, every bit as good as all the other DSLR I have owned, including my new K10. It's a pity Minolta went out of the digital camera business, they had a great camera with the 7D and I believe subsequent improvements by Minolta would have given them an equal footing with Nikon and Canon.

Hopefully the Pentax next models based on the K10, will do what Minolta failed to do in their haste to drop out. I maybe wrong, but I don't think Sony have a winner with maybe the exception of the Minolta diehards.

The Pentax OEM Wireless Remote can be purchased on Ebay now and again. I got one for around $8.00 new.

RG.

I just got home from a visit to our local Best Buy store.

Visited the store to check out the Sony A700. Must say as far as build quality and general looks, it doesn't come close to the K10. Despite it's mag alloy body it looks cheap. Yes it has 12MP and a 3" Screen, so what ? It's way over priced at $1399.99 for the body only.

My Minolta 7D (also has mag alloy body) is built like a tank in comparison and looks and feels like a pro camera.
I don't believe the A700 will attract any Pentax fans, or too many Nikon and Canon users.

I was considering selling my 7D and getting the A700. No way. I love my 7D and now the K10, which also when compared to the A700 is way ahead in looks, feel and quality build, plus feature for feature much better value for the money.

If the 7D is a tank, the K10 is a pole sitting Indy 500 Race Car in comparison to the Sony A700.

Just my opinion.

K10D, KM7D and Finepix S9100. Former Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Kodak owner.

RG.