Value for money
At $AU1,999 (RRP) the RDC-i500 will cost you approximately $AU800-$AU600 more than a conventional 3.34 CCD digital camera. Unfortunately you will have to dip your hand in your pocket again to utilise the camera's online capabilities. The CF communication card required to network the RDC-i500 is an optional addition. Ricoh recommends the Pretec 56K CompactModem ($AU299) or the Xircom CompactCard Modem 56 GlobalACCESS (AU$349-399). For LAN connectivity a Pretec CompactFlash 10BaseT LAN card will cost around ($AU286). The RDC-i500's online capabilities offer minimal if any total cost of ownership advantages unless you intend to use the camera for overseas assignments; it comes down to a calculation of cost versus convenience and that's nigh-impossible to calculate across the entire spectrum of the camera's potential market. We'll leave that up to you.
Ricoch RDC-i500
Company: Ricoh
Price: AU$1,999
Distributor: Ricoh Australia
Phone: 13 14 76
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