Olympus just announced pricing for it’s latest PEN 4/3 camera. At only $500 (USD) the PEN E-PM1 will be the cheapest 4/3 camera out there. It is still compatible with all of Olympus’ lenses and is in a nice, small form factor. At this price point, the PEN Mini, as it’s called, is right in the reach of shooters looking at the Canon S95 and LUMIX LX5. With it’s larger sensor, interchangable lenses and RAW capability, it will far outclass those cameras at the same price.

Drawbacks? There is no flash, but a good f1.8 prime lens should fix that, and Olympus sells one.

I’ve been itching to get a mirrorless camera as my secondary. Nikon and Canon still have not announced theirs yet, and I think this Olympus at this fantastic price point will do it. Can’t wait until September!

Dell has jumped on the netbook bandwagon and offers the new Insipron Mini.

While the majority of automakers are reporting declining sales, the Mini brand has had increased year-over-year sales every month this year:

July +14.9%
June +40.5%
May +47.2%
April +28.6%
March +26.4%
February +38.5%

It’s small wonder why Mini’s are effectively sold out.

Earlier this year, I wrote “Don’t Buy a Mini!” because J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Survey awarded Mini with 2nd last place. However, in a dramatic turnaround, consumers have ignored the poor build quality of the Mini’s and bought them by the boatload. The rest of the 2008 allocations in the USA are sold out. I’m not sure if that’s the same in Canada, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Why is it? Well the Mini has great gas mileage, and gasoline prices have skyrocketed. Correlation? Yes. Causation? Maybe.

The Mini is a great looking, quirky little car. As we switch to smaller and more fuel efficient cars, it will be cars like the Mini that will drive sales of the major car firms. In fact, Mini has posted the largest monthly increase in sales compared to last year for several months (Hummer led the largest decline).

However, today J.D. Power released their Initial Quality Study for 2008 and Mini ranked near the bottom. In fact, only Jeep ranked lower than Mini. This is pretty bad considering even Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia ranked much higher.

Hopefully BMW sorts things out at the Mini plants because I see them bringing the Mini with more engine options to North America very soon. In Europe they get more fuel efficient engines than we have here.