Archive for April, 2010
How can I find out about your special prices and how long do your specials last?
While Chinavasion prices are always the lowest out there we do occasionally put things on special to get you even more profits.
These can last for anything from several days to a month, depending on the promotion.
There a way to keep up with the low, low prices at Xtronics :
Keep an eye on our Specials page.
I’ve had to pay import tax on a repaired/replaced item, how do I prevent that?
However, there is one way to stop the taxman taking two bites of the cherry when getting an item sent back to you.
Just put the tax receipt in the package you send back to Xtronics, this is the receipt that has been provided by the courier when they delivered you. we will keep it and include it with the replacement/repaired item and it should stop you from having to pay twice. However it is still at your government’s discretion.
I forgot the password for my account, can you send me a new one?
Relax, renewing your password is a very easy process.
Just click on the I forgot my password link below the sign in link.
You will be taken to a page where you will be asked to enter the email address you made your Chinavasion account with. Once you’ve done that we will send you an email and you can enter your new password.
It is important though that you type your new password though, rather than copying and pasting it as this way it won’t contain any sneaky spaces or other characters that will trip you up next time you try to log in.
Due to overwhelming customer interest we are now happy announce the opening of a brand new LED Flashlights category.
As you may have noticed, we have recently introduced a whole series of Flashmax CREE LED Flashlights. These robust LED Flashlights use the industry favorite CREE LED’s that provide the brightness and control that tech gadget and flashlight aficionados require.
The Xtronics Flashmax series of LED Flashlights earned its name because it offered maximum performance and maximum value for maximum savings.
Unlike competitors that just send you the flashlight and leave you to find your own battery in we include rechargable batteries and battery charger with many of our LED torches to ensure that you get the maximum amount of savings. Not only that all of our lights are covered by our famous 12 month factory warranty.
There’s not too many of our competitors that can say that!
Keep a close eye on this category, because over the next few months we will be adding other LED’s from the likes of Nichia and Philips Lumileds (Luxeon) throughout 2010 to give you the best selection of China Wholesale LED Flashlights on the market today.
1 – Better Light Output
You use less energy to produce the same amount of light with LEDs as you do with a standard bulb.
This means that you get more light from a standard sized LED Torchlight than you did with your old flash light, and that’s essentially what you need right?
2 – More Lighting Options
With LED lights there are new programmable “clicky” buttons which give you the option to strobe, SOS, fast on-off, slow on-off, and more. As opposed to the old fashioned incandescent or halogen bulb which simply switches off and switches on.
3 – Longer Life
LED lights have life ratings of 50,000+ hours. This means, no matter how many times you use it it will literally will last a lifetime. You never have to worry about replacing a bulb ever again.
What’s DivX and why is it important?
DIVX can be a file format or a codec but before your brain explodes take a look at the handy definition box below…
- File Format: The structure by which data is organized in a file, it is also sometimes called the container.
- Codec: Codec stands for compression/decompression. It refers to how video and audio files are squeezed down into a size which can be transported/carried in some way in the the container (or file format).
To properly understand Divx, first we must look at downloading videos from the Internet. Like most people you probably do. But have you ever stopped to think of where those files come from? Who put them there? Why anyone would spend their free time doing that?
The fact is most videos you download come from a DVD.
The problem is that DVD’s are huge! Quite often the file contents of a DVD take up several gigabytes of size.
While that’s great for file quality this has several drawbacks namely uploading and downloading from the Internet takes forever given most people’s Internet connections.
That’s where DivX comes in handy. Using DivX software, you can rip the contents of a DVD and shrink the file size at the same time (officially known as compression) so it’s much smaller and yet at the same time not lose too much in terms of quality.
How does DivX do it?
While the exact way Divx is compressed is a trade secret the way it is generally done by:
- reducing the frame rate (how many different images you see)
- reducing the resolution (how clear the picture is)
- Removing some of the colors from the graphics (making pictures grayer)
While this may all sound terrible, the quality is generally protected as much as possible and the end result is that a DVD quality movie over 1GB in file size gets compressed to just under 700 MB with pretty decent picture quality.
You need a DIVX compatible player to play this file on your computer or media player but, besides DivX there are a number of players like Videolan (VLC) and Media Player Classic that can easily play DivX files.
While this may all sound clear and easy the internet has come along and messed things up. Remember before when we talked about containers/file formats and codecs?
These days when you’re looking for movies on the Internet, you may find one of two types of DivX files:
- native DivX files (those that end in .divx)
- DixX compressions in other files (files that end in .AVI or another file format)
When you’re downloading a DivX video with the .divx extension you’re actually downloading a DivX container containing a DivX compressed DVD file inside.
Whereas when you download a DivX video with the .avi extension you’re really downloading an AVI container containing a DivX compressed DVD file inside.
Depending on the MP4 player or HDD enclosure you use it is likely to have a varying amount of difference depending on the files it supports.
However, you should be able to make sure you are never bothered by problems by taking the following steps.
- Knowing what file formats (and if possible what codecs) your player supports and only getting material in that file source
- Installing a good sturdy player like VLC or media player classic on your computer
And that’s it! With a little bit of research you will be free of DivX problems for all time. The choice of container is mostly irrelevant these days but there was a time when some players were more comfortable playing AVI containers.
One of the challenges of selling online is taking good photos of your products.
Your photos work like bait, if it doesn’t look enticing enough to “hook” your viewers, chances are it wont help you “catch” very many sales.
Good product photos need to be clear, attractive, and informative to capture attention and convince your viewers to
“swallow”… the “bait” that is ; )
Your online viewers obviously can’t touch or feel your product before they buy it, so you will need to communicate as much
information as possible through the use of good product photos and a detailed product description.
The goal is to remove any fear or doubt your viewers might have about purchasing a product they can’t see or feel first-hand.
To accomplish this goal you don’t have to go out and buy expensive camera and lighting equipment either. You can use inexpensive
equipment easily found at your local Wal-Mart or Costco and still achieve great results.
In the next few sections we will teach you some proper lighting techniques, how to use manual camera settings, and explain some
basic methods for capturing good product photos.
By the end of this guide you will be ready to start taking professional looking photos and begin to attract the attention your products truly deserve!
1- Lighting
Proper lighting is the most important factor in capturing high quality images. You want to use lots of lighting, but not direct lighting, as this will create strong shadows that will ruin your photos.
2- Camera
It is best to purchase a camera that has some basic manual controls like shutter and aperture control. Obviously the more control options you have the better, but even so, you can still get acceptable results with little to no image controls.
If you cant afford an expensive camera with manual controls you can still use an automatic camera. With an automatic (point- and-shoot) camera you will need to rely heavily on lighting and white balance presets to do most of the work for you.
A popular automatic camera that is great for product photos is:
3- Main Camera Controls
Study your camera and learn how to use the manual controls. You will be using the shutter speed control and aperture control
primarily. Most modern digital cameras around the $250 price range will have these settings.
Shutter speed
The shutter speed will control the length of time the film or chip is exposed to light. The longer it is open the more your camera will collect light and the brighter your image will be. A shutter speed of 1/30 means the shutter is open for 1/30 of a second. This is a relatively slow shutter speed.
Aperture
The aperture or f-stop setting adjusts the diameter of the opening that allows light to come in. The larger the opening the more light will enter your camera. It is useful to remember that the lower the number is for this setting, the bigger the opening will actually be.
Play around with these controls and take plenty of test photos with each one of the settings. In a few hours you will have a better idea of how the aperture setting and shutter speed actually affect your photos.
4- Additional Camera Controls
For even better image control you can experiment with some of these additional, but equally useful, camera control settings.
White Balance
Most cameras come with white balance control presets. White balancing allows you remove any unrealistic colors in your image so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo as well.
Most cameras will have a variety of preset white balances that you can choose from. Common settings include; Tungsten,
Fluorescent, Daylight, Flash, Cloudy and Shade.
Most of the time the names of these settings are inaccurate. It is recommended to first set up your photo box, lighting, and product, then take a picture with each one of the presets. Then compare the photos and select the best one.
If you are using a white background you can select the photo that looks closest to white and use that setting for the rest of the photos.
ISO/ASA (film speed)
This settings is normally found on 35mm film cameras. Try to select a speed from 50-100. The faster your film is the more “noise” you will have in your photos. Noise on a camera makes the image appear grainy, so less speed is better with this setting.
It is also important to remember that less speed also means less means less light sensitivity. So additional lighting will be required to compensate for a slower film speed.
Macro Mode
This allow you to focus your camera very close to an object, sometimes within millimeters. This is important if you want to take photos of very small products like ear rings, coins, stamps, or if you just want a close up and detailed shot.
The symbol for macro mode is usually a small flower or tulip. Turn this feature ON and learn how close you can get to a product before this mode is actually needed.
5- Taking your Pictures
When taking product photos it’s important to keep the camera as still as possible. This is especially true when taking photos at slow shutter speeds. You can buy an inexpensive tripod from Wal-Mart or eBay that will work just fine.
Make sure you take your time and take LOTS of photos. Take photos from different perspectives, reposition the product, take some up close, then farther away.
When you take plenty of shots, with different settings, and from different perspectives, you increase the chances of getting a good one. This is what’s great about digital photography – you can take as many pictures as your want and just delete the bad ones!
Well there you have it. With this simple yet effective information you can start taking those great looking product photos just like you see on Amazon, eBay and Xtronics.
However, there is one last element that we left out of the equation. photo manipulation and photo editing. This is an important step that, if taken, can be the difference between good sales and great sales.
There are number of options out there including:
- Adobe Photoshop (either the lite free version, the medium paid version or the pro version)
- Gimp (A free, open source photo editor)
- One of the many proprietory programs that are available online.
While some people swear by Gimp Photoshop is probably the most commonly-used program for this type of work.