The trouble is that being competitive means lower prices and it's difficult to make a profit when prices are low and overheads (staff and premises included) are high. The High Street model is much more difficult than say an Internet-based supplier, where costs are much lower.

You also need to buy in goods and pay for them, usually before they are sold and generate income, so a wide range means high stocking costs.

So I don't think Jessops are in the best of positions. Lowering prices is not the answer to their survival, because it will increse their rate of losing money. They were doing well once, and probably over-stretched by expanding too fast and at the wrong time.

I'm still using Photoshop 7 quite a lot of the time, despite having CS2 as well. The advatage is the Browser, which I prefer to Bridge, and faster operation because of the lower call on the PCs resources.

UK Law supercedes a statement like that. In fact, the supplier is liable anyway, so, for example, if you buy from Jessops you would look to Jessops to correct any fault.

Many guarantee cards are also a marketing exercise - I generally don't fill them in and have never had a problem getting warranty service when required.

If you buy from a UK dealer such as Jessops you will have a receipt and that's all you need for your guarantee. It isn't essential to register the product or return the card.

At £49.99 the lens is worth having need it or not. It's a good lens. You might even sell it for more on eBay...

The latest pice found at Calumet for the original Pentax battery was indeed £24.99

The trouble with a FAQ section is that there's more than one opinion on these subjects, so which one do we call definitive? Mine? Somneone else's?

I think a forum is a free exchange of ideas and is best left as such. A magazine article is a definitive opinion from a single writer or group of writers and is a different beast altogether.

It's not a matter of trust but of logic. "Own brand" products can be fine, but the source of them frequently changes. Then they can become more or less fine until the source of supply changes again.

It's more a matter of what we are comfortable with. I know some get outraged by what they perceive as high prices for original manufacturers' parts, and that could apply to lenses as well as batteries, but if we want the best then the answer seems pretty clear to me. The contrary answer may seem perefectly clear to others, that's freedom.

When it is raised by new members though I do think they deserve to know that there are different ways of looking at these issues.

Yes, and Sony had to take rsponsibility for it because their name was stamped on the battery and it was made to their specification.

Pentax do not make every part of our cameras, they buy in from other sources. The CCD and CMOS sensors are the most obvious examples of this. They do dictate the quality of these items though, just as they dictate the source and quality of their batteries, which are made by people who know how to make batteries.

Cheaper alternatives are of unknown quality.

It is wrong. The PX 400 is a much smaller cell. Try the Small Battery Company who will list all the equivalent numbers for a PX625.

Wein cells have the correct voltage and work well. They can only last about 6 months though. Don't forget to let the cells activate by removing the sealing strip and then waiting 30 minutes before installing the battery.

Well I don't mind if you don't...