Rating: Summary: Neat Camera ! Review: The HP 215 seems to be a great digital camera. Good especially for beginning users. The picture clarity is great! The price is good compared to the less expensive models that don't compare. The down part of the camera is the battery usage. Hewlett needs to invent a better long lasting battery, but outside of that it's a great camera and investment. Having alot of fun with it.
Rating: Summary: such a deal!!! Review: I bought this camera new at a steep discount, and also got a rebate with it to bring the price super low. I feel I've got my money's worth so far.ASSESMENT: good picture quality quality for the money- decent software package-good battery life-80+ shots on orignal batteries (I shut off the LCD, shut off the camera when not in constant use between shots, open the battery lid when storing the camera)
Rating: Summary: Rechargeable batteries--Work Great !! Review: I switched to rechargeables for this camera and they work great. No problems whatsoever. I have had pretty good luck with this camera. It does not have a ton of features but is easy to use. Downloading with the USB cable is really fast and simple. A very good value (I am a bit biased due to a ...rebate offer but still a good little camera).
Rating: Summary: Entry level.......... Review: The product A definite entry level digital camera for still shots. At a cost of ... it’s a steal. Ok, you won’t achieve any oohhhh’s and ahhh’s, but what the heck, you want a picture of your buddies which you can then upload effortlessly to your site within minutes for all to see. The dimensions of the 215 are, well, big x big x big, the appearance is hardcore old-skool. Enough, here are the specs, digital zoom 2X included compactflash card 4MB CompactFlash Card compatibility USB to PC, Standard camera software Arcsoft PhotoImpression 2000 Arcsoft PhotoMontage special features 1.8" LCD The 4Mb card (which is upgradeable) holds 32 shots at the lowest quality, 11 at medium quality and just 4 at the highest. The Good I like the LCD screen and the neat toggle roller ball that helps you navigate through the various menus that in comparison to some top of the range digi cameras are very user friendly. After taking several shots you can then review them in thumbnail mode which is really neat, zoom in on the shots and dispose of unwanted ones. My younger brother had perfected its operation within minutes of me opening the box. Load up the software and plug in that USB cable to the back of your box and you are good to go. Shots come out clear surprisingly, not amazing, but acceptable. Eats 4 AA batteries in the side loading compartment as well has having an AC adaptor port, (AC adaptor – optional extra). And the bad To conclude, the 215xi does not complement a versace suit. It’s strictly a ‘point and shoot’ fun camera. Saying that, please, don’t point it at me unless you want to get a serious ribbing.
Rating: Summary: Decent Camera Review: Although I do enjoy this camera there are a couple of things to note: 1. Like the previous reviews my camera sucks up battery power quickly, if using the LCD. If not using the LCD the battery power stays strong a lot longer. 2. The LCD screen on my camera refuses to turn on maybe 50% of the time...a little frustrating! This camera does take very good pictures most of the time, if using the highest quality setting. Low light or indoors sometimes gives it trouble where the photo does not turn out good. This camera has a digital zoom, using it produces very low quality photos, it has no optical zoom
Rating: Summary: Only for Still Shots Review: While this camera offers great resolution in its photos, it is so slow in reactions it renders the viewfinder useless. Plan on a five second interval between perfect shot and the camera reacting. Being a beginner at digital photography, I cannot compare this unit to the market, but I am very disappointed with the purchase. I wish I had spent more to get more. This camera also takes batteries at the rate of appx. one set of four AA per five pictures, when download time is included. All in all, I am not happy with this camera, and wish I had bought something better.
Rating: Summary: Not recomended Review: As noted by other reviews, the biggest problem this camera has is the battery consumption. I was really happy with it untill I had taken 30 pictures and had to replace the batteries. Then I tried without the LCD on and got maybe 35 pictures, not much different. I expected a fast power drain, but I've used other camera's and got far more out of a set of batteries. On top of that, not being able to use rechargeables .... If you own a battery company, or got a crate of batteries for X-mas, this might be a good starter camera for you, but I traded mine in for a HP 315 and love it.
Rating: Summary: good camera for the buck Review: This camera is a good camera for the consumer dollar, it has a great resolution for the first time digital camera owner. The Photosmart 215 also has an intresting plethra of features such as red eye reduction 2x digital zoom (great feature self timer. This is a good camera if you're not looking to break the bank but are looking for a camera with some nice bells and wistles to play with. I only have two problems with this camera, one problem is the need to buy rechargeable batteries for this camera. I suggest you pick up some AA rechargable batteries while buying this camera this will save you $1000's of dollars over this camera's life. If you opt to go without the rechargeable batteries you will soon find out the necssety of this item because this camera can eat regular batteries by the dozen. While at the store you should also find a better memory card because the 4 megabyte card provided is less that sufficent, i recomend a 32 or 64 megabyte card. All of these items, camera batteries and compact flash card total about $270 so it's not a bad deal at all. This is a great piece of equiptment for teh average joe.
Rating: Summary: Disappointed Review: I have never had a problem with HP products.. they usually install with ease and work great. BUT this camera is an exception. I saw it in a compUSA ad for [price] 2 weeks ago and thought it was an excellent deal, but how disappointed I was. First, it eats up batteries faster then anything I've seen. So I decided to buy rechargeable batteries for it - only to find out after taking a closer look at the manual that THIS CAMERA DOES NOT SUPPORT RECHARABLES. It gives no real explanation as to why and HP keeps suggesting that you buy energizer e2’s (the kind that shipped with the camera.) I’m a little suspicious that this may be a marketing scheme on energizers behalf. Second, It only comes with a 4mb flash card which isn’t enough (it will only store 5 high quality photos) When I bought a 32mb card for it, THE CAMERA WENT DEAD and I had to get a replacement. HP stated to me on their forum that “the camera seems to randomly do this when upgrading the card.” Finally, the software that comes with the camera is so idiot-proof that it is absolutly worthless. It has almost no editing functions and can't even resize the photo for printing. The camera design is just really bad overall. If I hadn’t gotten it for such a low price, it would have been back on the store shelf the week I bought it.
Rating: Summary: Batteries Review: Just a note about battery usage. If you would read the user's manual you will discover that rechargeable batteries are NOT supported in this camera and any damage resulting from the use of rechargeable batteries voids the warranty. The power requirements of the camera are such that rechargeable batteries can be damaged or damage the camera and are therefore not supported in the camera. If you look on the rechargeable batteries you will notice that the power ratings are different from those of normal alkaline batteries. A better solution is to use the Photo Lithium batteries (NOT Lithium Ion batteries) with the camera, and avoid using the rear LCD as much as possible. Just a little FYI for those who post saying rechargeable batteries work great - RTFM (Read the freaking manual).
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