Nikon Coolpix L120 Mini Review

Even though there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in cameras based on the hits from my previous blog entry about the Nikon Coolpix P5100, some of my friends/colleagues asked me about my thoughts on the Nikon Coolpix L120 after I used it on my vacation so I've decided to write my thoughts about the L120 on my blog.

Even though my old Nikon Coolpix P5100 still worked (and I was/am happy with the picture quality), there was a sale on the Nikon Coolpix L120 at the time so I decided to purchase it as my point and shoot camera. Because of the smaller and more compact size of my old Nikon Coolpix P5100 (and the fact that it can use an external hotshoe flash which I own) and it can take high quality pictures/videos, I bring this camera with me most of the time but when I go on vacation/trips, I normally will bring my Nikon Coolpix L120.

One of the things that I like about the Nikon Coolpix L120 is the fact that it takes standard AA batteries (it uses 4 batteries). This is somewhat unusual for Nikon since most of their cameras use proprietary Nikon batteries with the newer Nikon D-SLRs using proprietary Nikon batteries where 3rd party batteries can't be used at all because of a chip on the battery that the camera looks for.

The fact that the Nikon Coolpix L120 uses standard AA batteries was the reason I purchased this camera when it was on sale since it has happened to me in the past where my camera batteries ran out of charge during my vacation and I wasn't anywhere near my hotel room so I couldn't recharge my batteries. By using standard AA batteries, I can purchase these batteries almost anywhere/anytime if my rechargeable batteries run out of power. Also, since I have a lot of rechargeable AA batteries, I don't really expect there to be an issue with me running out of power when I am taking pictures.

Another thing I like about this camera is that the zoom is very good (21x optical zoom wide) and it is better than on my older P5100.

Another reason for my purchase of the L120 when it was on sale was because it offered a slightly better resolution over my P5100. The resolution of the Coolpix L120 is rated as being 14.1 MP whereas the Coolpix P5100 is rated as being 12.1 MP. However, megapixels are not everything when it comes to picture quality. The picture quality is largely dependant on the lens and I've never had any problems/issues with the lenses from the Nikkor lenses on my Nikon cameras.

Compared with my P5100, my L120 is a simpler camera to use. It is a simple point and shoot camera (whereas my P5100 had some camera picture taking control/settings similar to DSLRs). The Nikon Coollpix L120 has pre-set scene shooting modes (indoor, outdoor, portrait, landscape, etc.). There are 17 scene modes.

It doesn't have an optical viewfinder. When taking pictures, if it is very bright, it might be difficult to see your subject using the LCD screen. My old P5100 had both a optical viewfinder and the LCD screen.

The L120 being more of what I would consider to be an entry level simple point and shoot camera, doesn't support external hotshoe flash.

In terms of the picture quality, I find that it takes very good pictures outdoors. Indoors, you have to remember to change the settings for the shooting scene mode since I've found that the easy auto scene mode doesn't handle the white balance very well indoors.

This was taken with the easy auto mode. You can see how there is an orange-like colour because of the white balance. The above picture was taken at the MGM Grand - Las Vegas.

This picture was taken with the indoor scene mode. This picture was taken at the Venetian Las Vegas.

One of the things that I don't like about the L120 is that it uses a clip/click-on lens cover. The reason I don't like it (or I prefer the lens cover on my Nikon Coolpix P5100 which uses an automatic lens cover) is because sometimes I've forgotten to remove the lens cover and I've turned on the camera either purposely or accidentally. This causes the lens to extend but the lens cover prevents the lens from extending. This can damage the lens camera motor (which has happened to me in the past with one of my digital cameras when it accidentally turned on while it was in my tight/small camera bag).

I find that this P&S camera is fairly large for a point and shoot camera. This camera won't fit into my older camera bags because of the size. What takes up the majority of the size is the lens which is larger than what you get with most point and shoot cameras.

If you have any questions/comments regarding my experience with my Nikon Coolpix L120 (or anything written on this blog), please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

YouTube on LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 Review (Updated)

Since the last time I wrote about using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 to watch YouTube videos, there was a firmware update to it which invalidates most of what I wrote in my previous blog entry located *HERE*. I wrote a comment in my own blog entry mentioning that instead of using your YouTube/Google account to log in, it now requires using your computer to go to http://www.youtube.com/activate and then enter a code which is generated by the LG Smart TV Upgrader box.

As of this blog entry, the firmware is ST.8.79.207. For my previous blog entry regarding using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box to watch YouTube videos, the firmware was at ST.8.79.202.

In terms of the video/audio quality, I will say that the upgraded firmware version is comparable to what I was getting with the older firmware.

The most noticeable change with the firmware is that the menu for YouTube has been revamped/altered drastically. The menu is now on the left side of the screen instead of on the top and the selections are "Discover Channels", "Search", "My YouTube", and "Featured".

For the "Discovered Channels", you have a submenu (on the side of the screen) that includes Animation, Automobiles, Beauty & Fashion, Causes & Non-Profits, Celebrity & Gossip, Comedy, Cooking & Health, Family, Film & Entertainment, Gaming, How To & DIY, Music, News & Politics, Science & Education, Sports, Technology, and VLOG Stars.

Within the "Featured" menu, you have YouTube Trends, Gaming, Music, Sports, Film & Animation, Most Popular, and Most Liked.

I've tried the various menu options and it basically shows a selection of videos that are related to the category. The News & Politics selection seems to be limited to US news even though I'm located in Canada.

When I actually watch YouTube with my LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600, I normally just use the "Search" feature and the "My YouTube" feature.

The "Search" feature allows you to search the videos for a specific topic in the exact same way as what I reviewed in my previous blog entry. After playing the first video, it will automatically go to the next video within the selection.

The "My YouTube" feature allows you to watch videos or channels that you've subscribed to using your Google/YouTube account.

Excluding the drastic change in the menu (and the new way used to link your Google/YouTube account to the ST600 box), not much has changed in terms of video/audio quality from what I stated in my previous review and this review. Videos will sometimes buffer/pause but not that often and this will depend on the internet bandwidth available. I find that videos will buffer/pause more often when I'm using my PC to watch YouTube videos than when I'm using my ST600 box to watch YouTube videos.

Overall, I would say that just like during my last blog entry regarding my YouTube experience with my ST600 box, I'm satisfied with using it to watch YouTube videos.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry (or anything written on this blog), please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Nikon Coolpix P5100 Mini Review

Friends and colleagues have asked me what digital camera I have/use and I thought that even though one of my digital cameras is a bit old, it would be a good time to write my impressions on one of my digital cameras. I have a few digital cameras and the digital camera that I still use occasionally because of it's functionality and size is my Nikon P5100.


You can find lots of reviews on the internet regarding this phone since it is a few years old so I will just write about what I like regarding the camera and what I don't like regarding the camera. For the exact details (specs) of the camera, you can do a search on Google for one of the many reviews.


It is basically a 12.1 megapixel camera with a 3.5x optical zoom with stabilization.


One of the things that I like about this camera is that it combines the ease of a point and shoot (P&S) automatic camera with some of the features of a SLR without the interchangeable lenses.

The first thing that I like about this camera is the size. It is obviously smaller than my D-SLR but has many of the features of my D-SLR. It gives me almost as much control over my picture taking (shutter, aperture, and manual exposure modes). It also has quite a few scene modes that make it as easy to use as a regular P&S camera.

Another thing that I like about this camera is that it supports Nikon Speedlights (flashes). I find this to be a very useful feature because like all digital cameras that I've used/seen, most of them take very good pictures in the sunlight but indoors the built-in flash is lacking.

Something else that I like about this camera is that you are able to use the optical viewfinder as well as using the LCD display to take pictures. I find the optical viewfinder to be great when taking pictures in the bright sunlight since sometimes it is difficult to use the LCD display.

When I purchased this camera a few years ago, my previous Nikon camera didn't support SD-HC so it was limited to SD cards (less than or equal to 2 GB). Now, most digital cameras support the various SD formats so it isn't a big deal.

Here is an example of a picture that I took outside.

Here is an example of a picture that I took indoors using the built-in flash:

I find that it takes excellent pictures outside but like all digital cameras, doesn't take very good pictures inside using the internal flash unless the subject is only a few meters away from the camera. I've had to reduce both image resolutions so that they show up properly on my blog but the original pictures were roughly 4000 x 3000.

The form factor of this camera is also good since it has a sort of a handle/grip on the side of the camera instead of being perfectly rectangular.

One of the things that I like about this camera is that it has a built-in automatic lens protector. When you turn on the camera, the lens protector automatically opens up and when you turn off the camera, the lens protector closes, automatically protecting the lens. With some of the other digital cameras that I've used, the lens protector is basically a circular lens cover that clips to the lens. If you forget to remove it when you turn on the camera, you run the risk of damaging the motor controlling the lens which has happened to me with one of my digital cameras.

One of the things that I'm not too crazy about with this camera is that it uses Nikon proprietary batteries. I have to mention that most Nikon cameras use Nikon proprietary batteries. Unlike with my Nikon D-SLR, with this camera, it does support 3rd party batteries. My Nikon D-SLR only supports official Nikon batteries. I would prefer if the Nikon P5100 supported the standard AA batteries since it has happened where after almost an entire day of picture taking, the two Nikon EN-EL5 batteries that I had with me ran out of power and I still wanted to take pictures.

If you have any questions/comments regarding my experience with my Nikon P5100 (or anything written on this blog), please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Checking Red Pocket Mobile Balance

I've been using Red Pocket Mobile for a few years now whenever I go to the US and have already written a few blog entries on my experience using their service. Red Pocket Mobile has undergone a lot of changes since I last wrote about them back in 2009. Because of these changes, I've decided to write about one of the changes that based on Google seems to be getting a lot of search hits on my blog. This blog entry will cover checking your airtime balance with Red Pocket Mobile.

One of the most dramatic changes is that they have started to offer prepaid monthly plans. I won't discuss this in my blog because as an occasional visitor to the US, I use their pay as you go plan. However, the methods that I'm writing about in this blog entry should also apply to their prepaid monthly plans.

There used to be 3 ways of checking your balance with Red Pocket Mobile (2 work outside of coverage area and 1 works within coverage area). I will cover each of them as well as the new way to verify your airtime balance.

The first method of checking your airtime balance involves using the phone which has your Red Pocket Mobile SIM in it and key in a code (and press "Send" or "Call"). You must be in a Red Pocket Mobile coverage area in order for this method to work. The code is *777# . The phone will display the airtime balance remaining on your account as well as the expiry date for your account.

One of the 2 methods for obtaining the airtime balance on your Red Pocket Mobile account that work outside the coverage area (but in Canada/US) is by calling their customer service number at 1-888-993-3888 and speak with a customer service agent.

The other method for obtaining your airtime balance on your Red Pocket Mobile is to send an e-mail to Red Pocket Mobile's customer service e-mail address. Their e-mail address is CS at REDPOCKETMOBILE.COM. Replace the "at" with the "@" sign. I find that they reply normally within 1 hour but that depends on the time that you send the e-mail.

Recently Red Pocket Mobile created a webpage where you can get your balance easily. The webpage is: http://goredpocket.com/checkyouraccount. You are required to enter your phone number without any hyphens or brackets (ex: (123) 456-7890 -> 1234567890) and the last 4 digits from your SIM card's ICCID number.

You also have to enter the random graphical "words" in order for the webpage to give you your account balance. I've found that if you get most of the characters correct (since sometimes, some of the characters are hard to distinguish), the website will still give you your balance.

For me, I ran into a problem because my SIM card was worn out and I could not make out the ICCID number from the SIM card. I managed to still get the last 4 digits from my SIM card's ICCID number by inserting the SIM card into my phone and using one of the options in the phone (Blackberry Bold 9700) menu to display the information about the SIM card (part of the information that was displayed was the ICCID number). I tried to get the same information from my Samsung Nexus-S and my iPhone 3GS but neither phone displayed my SIM card's ICCID number in the menu option screens.

Now, whenever I want to obtain my Red Pocket Mobile balance (and I'm not in a Red Pocket Mobile coverage area), I go to their webpage and get my balance (along with the expiry date). It gives me the information quickly and I don't need to call their customer service number nor do I need to send them an e-mail.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.