PixMania.co.uk / MahaEnergy.co.uk

[JustBrowsing]

Hi all, first post here. :)

I'm hoping to purchase my very first camera soon with a few accessories to go with it, and I was hoping you guys could let me know what you think.

(1) I'm going to buy the camera (plus the following package from pixmainia.co.uk, I've done a quick search on the forum, read several reviews on pixmania and was wondering wether anyone here would recommend them as a place to purchase my first camera from. I've read some pretty mixed reviews, some bad, some good, but one of the more worrying things is that people say that pixmania orders their hardware from France, meaning all the literature is French, does that mean that I would be stuck with a camera with a French menu system? Or is there an option to change via the menu?

Here's the package I intend to buy:

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/133962/art/canon/powershot-a510-secure-dig.html

It's one of the more reasonably priced sites I could find with some attractive deals, what's your opinion? Anyone here had any experience with pixmania?

(2) I'm going to buy the battery charger from MahaEnergy.co.uk, I have heard great things about their products but the site looks rather... low budget, not very professional. Is it wise to purchase the following product from them?

http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/acatalog/c4011fw.html

OK, that's all. Please bear in mind this will be my first camera ever and I'm am aware I'm a total newbie, but I'm sure you can understand I would like everything perfect before I order.

Cheers

[clinger]

Hiya,

I recent gave the following reply about Pixmania to another poster;

I had to shop around online recently as I was looking for a Panasonic FZ20 which for some reason was very difficult to find in the shops here. I eventually bought it from Pixmania which is located in Paris but has a site for each EU country so everything will be quoted in £ stg. For me at least they were definitely the cheapest around and had it delivered to me within 48 hours. They're quite well known so have no worries about using a Cr. card. Also, if you you quote them a promotional code (available on any of their ads in the digital photo magazines), then you'll also get £10 off the price quoted on their website. If you like they'll arrange for payment over 12 months as well. The only drawback with Pixmania though is that you more than likely won't get an English language manual but they will give you a link to a PDF so that you can print it off yourself - personally it didn't bother me but some people find it very aggravating.

If 7dayshop.com (based in Guernsey) do happen to stock your camera, then I'd say they'll have a comparable price. Again, no need to worry about Credit card security.
Warehouse express.com (based in Norwich) are supposed to be reasonable as well but I've no personal experience of dealing with them.

With Pixmania, your camera will be set up with an English menu just the same as if you bought it in a shop in the UK, so no worries there. If you have any worries, give them a call - the number is on their website. I called them to check something and got straight through to an English speaking customer services guy (think he was an Ozzie actually). Just make sure that your camera is marked as having "Plenty in Stock", otherwise you could be waiting a while.
That charger looks OK as well - I like the fact that it'll do a slow charge (100 min) also, as I think constant fast charging damages the batteries to some extent, resulting in a shorter life span.
The company, Nevada, have given an address and tel number which is more than you'll get from some internet companies so I'd be willing to trust them as much as any online seller. Saying that, you'll probably find chargers in any department store for similar prices. Not sure if the savings would be worth buying it online really.
Best of luck anyway - hope you enjoy your new camera.

[markyb]

hi
i bought my fz20 off pixmania uk
id no problems at all with them ,
only drawback was no english manual. every othe language but english
a quick phone call and i was told that they dont normally supply an english manual as they are a french based company.
so i just went on to panasonics web site and downloaded one.
what camera are you after.
ive searched loads of web sites here in the uk and ive found a few that are cheaper than pixmania

[Legion]

(2) I'm going to buy the battery charger from MahaEnergy.co.uk, I have heard great things about their products but the site looks rather... low budget, not very professional. Is it wise to purchase the following product from them?

http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/acatalog/c4011fw.htmlI just bought the MH-C204W charger off them a couple of weeks ago - arrived fine and works well. No problems here.

[markyb]

ive just got my 2nd camera off them, canon eos350.
2nd camera in as many months, again apart from no english manual
everything went fine .
fast speedy delivery, about a week from ordering to delivery.
and that was doing online finance with them, sending credit forms back and waiting for credit company to send the ok to pixmania.
but shop around coz some other online dalers are as cheap if not cheaper.
and places like jessops will price match against some online dealers (pixmania excluded ) in case you would rather not order online