Good, but also very, very bad
Written: Nov 05 '03
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Pros: Photo quality, simplicity of use
Cons: Rate of battery drainage
The Bottom Line: Prices drop every month. If you can get it for $150-, then go for it. Don't bother with alkaline batteries. You will need rechargeables.
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| Etherix's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart 735 Digital Camera |
When I was shopping, I was mainly comparing the HP Photosmart 735 with a Kodak Easyshare CX6330 because they were going for the same price. I tested both out manually. The Kodak is smaller than the HP. The quality of the HP pictures seemed noticeably superior to the Kodak, despite only having a 0.1 difference of megapixels. I like the interface of the HP... it is really... REALLY simple.
I've had the HP for almost 2 months now. The original one I bought malfunctioned after about a month - locked in a position with the lens outside of the camera, and would not turn on anymore despite battery changes, camera resets, and other experiments I conducted in attempt to fix it. HP support was surprisingly useful and they mailed me a replacement very quickly and let me exchange my camera for free.
This camera is bad for snapshots. Instead of taking pictures in a snap of the finger, it takes more like 4-5 seconds of absolute stillness to take one of its clear good pictures (even when the camera is set under the action/movement mode).
Okay, moving on to the absolute worst drawback of this camera. It drains batteries like CRAZY. I am not exaggerating. It finishes a new set of Duracell Ultra alkaline batteries in about 20-25 minutes. What about rechargeables, you ask? Yes. I have those too. My Maxell 'P2003' 1.2V 2100mAH NiMH batteries last about 15-20 minutes. Beware - these rechargeables are not the saviors you may think they are. NiMH batteries leak power also like crazy. If you leave them out in the closet for say... a day, it seems to me to lose perhaps 50% of its charge. Okay... HERE I am exaggerating, but hopefully you get the idea I am trying to convey. Batteries are huge annoyances with this camera, no matter what strategy you approach the problem with. It truly is necessary to always have at least 1 pair of backup supply batteries when you go out with this camera.
In the long run would I recommend buying this camera? DEPENDS. I believe it is good for taking pictures leisurely and slowly. If you plan to take pictures of scenery or POSED photos of friends and family, then you will benefit from its great photo quality. If you're at a party and people are walking around, on the other hand, don't bet on any pictures you take there to turn out clear.
Contrary to what other reviews say about the not-sufficient 16mb of internal memory, I believe it CAN BE sufficient based on what your needs are. I rarely print my pictures out. I like to have them immediately and put them on my computer to look at and show to friends. If you want them at a normal viewable size on your monitor, you will want the camera to take small pictures. When you set it at this mode, it takes 92 pictures. If you plan on printing your picture out on the other hand, you will want to set it to take big pictures so as to make the quality of the print better. In that case, you WOULD definitely need to buy an expansion memory card.
I hope this review was helpful to you. I really like my HP Photosmart 735, but it really sucks in certain aspects.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 250
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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Epinions.com ID:
Etherix
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Member: Ryan
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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