Rating: 
Summary: Great camera for price, but battery killer...
Review: This camera is packed with cool features for the price and is very easy to use. Lots of automatic features, anti-red eye, timer, etc. A video option and port would have been nice, but no biggy. But it eats batteries like no tomorrow...Even with the best alkalines, you will only get about 10 pics or so and then be able to drop them to your computer before the BATTERY TOO LOW FOR PICTURE warning comes up on the LCD and the thing starts acting funny. Even though it eats the batts, the HP logo still has to pop up on the LCD every darn time you turn on the camera. The jury seems to be out as to whether or not it takes rechargables. HP seem to be quite vague about it. Now after reading the previous review, and conferring with friends, I am looking into getting rechargable batteries for it and also the adaptor, because otherwise, you will be wasting money on alkalines and also getting frustrated quick.
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading Review
Review: Larry Roses's review is totalling misleading. I got the product. It does have rechargeable batteries as an available accessory (which I purchased). You can also get an AC adapter. Everything else works at the level I would expect for an entry level digital camera to be used to capture photos for email and web page use.
Rating:
Summary: In response to Larry Rose's comment about photosmart 215...
Review: I have looked at HP's website and cant find anywhere that it states you can not use rechargeable batteries with any of there cameras. It states that you recieve 4 AA batteries(not rechargeable) with the camera but not that you can't use rechargeable batteries with the camera. In fact it actually suggests NIMH rechargeable batteries as an accesory! If I am overlooking something please let me know as I have purchased a camera in the same family by HP.
Rating:
Summary: Rechargeable Batteries a NO-NO
Review: I think the 215 is a good value with great features and performance but it has a big flaw. The manual and the HP website both say that rechargeable batteries cannot be used. This is a big negative as digital cameras are notorious battery hogs. I'm not interested in providing retirement income for the Energizer Bunny. Thus I will return the camera.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible!
Review: The battery life makes this camera nearly useless. Most times we wanted to use the camera, we needed to switch out batteries first. It would be cheaper to get a better camera and save the money on electricity or batteries. There is also a long delay from the time you push the button until the time the picture is taken, so you can forget about catching kids at the right moment. To make it even more difficult, what you see in the view finder is not neccessarily what is in the picture. Many heads have been cut off in pictures from this camera. I just bought a Kodak digital camera to replace this, and it is fantastic; none of these problems. I don't have anything good to say about this camera. I got it when it first came out a few years ago, so it wasn't even cheap at the time.
Rating:
Summary: HP Makes Lousy Cameras and Won't Support Them
Review: Our HP camera started taking pictures like the one at: http://67.168.53.83/dfranksweb/files/photo.jpg. HP support is in a foreign country, and they keep wanting to provide suggestions for improving the image. I'm sorry, but this camera is broke. There is no improving the image. Replace the thing already and move on. "But have you tried holding it still?" "Maybe the flash is off?" If they would just look at the pictures it takes, it would be fairly obvious. "Is the lens cap on?" Oh well, I'm off to buy a Canon. Thanks HP.
Rating:
Summary: A bug in the software will break the camera
Review: This camera has two very bad problems. First, it goes through batteries like they're going out of style. Several other reviews have advised using rechargeable batteries, but in fact, that's a very bad option with this model. The user manual doesn't explain why, but on page 47 it says "do not use rechargeable batteries." I researched this a little - rechargeable batteries get too hot, putting the camera's innards at risk of melting. More importantly, any use of rechargeable batteries will void the service warranty. A voided service warranty would be bad under any circumstances, but it's especially bad in this case, because this particular camera is more likely to break than many others; there is a bug in its software. There are two ways to delete pictures from the CF card. You can use the camera itself, or you can use your PC when you have the camera connected. The bug comes into play if you use your PC to delete pictures - you run the risk of "toasting" the camera's firmware. "Toasting" sounds bad, doesn't it? It is indeed very bad - the cost of repairing a "toasted" camera is much greater than the original price of the camera. (Meaning greater than the price of the camera when it was sold new two years ago.) Cameras under the service warranty are simply replaced, but if the service warranty has expired or is void, the customer must pay. This is a well-known defect; in fact, it is one of the most-discussed problems involving the HP 215 on HP's "Support Forums." The original post dates back to September 19, 2001. I was fortunate; my camera was still under warranty when it broke. I had an extremely difficult time with HP customer service, but eventually I did convince them to send a replacement. The replacement camera is adequate, but that's about it. The on/off switch is poorly designed. It takes a delicate touch to properly turn the camera off, and I've lost count of the number of times I've accidentally left it on and returned to find the batteries dead. The focus & shoot function is aggravating - to "focus" you must gently depress the button half way, and then you must wait for a signal before you can actually take the picture. Judging the camera functioning as it was designed, I'd have given it 2 1/2 stars. With the software bug and HP's lousy customer service added in, it really doesn't deserve any stars at all!
Rating:
Summary: Okay starter camera, but eats batteries
Review: The pictures the hp 215 takes are decent, nice and clear and good for a webpage. However, they're difficult to take because of the minute+ time it takes for the camera to start up, and the 30 seconds+ it takes between pictures. Not to mention the batteries! I use good batteries, and this camera can only take about 15 before the batteries are dead, not nearly enough if you wanted to take this on vacation! In summary, good starter camera, but get something else if you want to travel with it.
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