Rating: Summary: Bad Investment Review: I've owned the PDC-700 for about a year and a half. I would highly recomend not purchasing this camera. I have to admit that I bought it on a whim and the price was right. It's no secret that this is entry level, low priced digital camera so I'll try to present both the pros and cons with that in mind.PROS *Feels really nice in the hands. *Perfect size for me *Great LCD... crisp *Very easy to use *location of buttons, controls, CF slot all well thought out CONS *Picture quality is almost always terrible *If there's an eyeball in the picture... it's red *BATTERY LIFE - don't plan on getting more than 20 or so shots from a high quality set of alkalines using LCD. 25-30 without. *Upload speed very slow. My 700 DID NOT come with USB. The USB whole was plugged. I understand that the new units come with USB so it may not be an issue... but geez... very slow to upload. If you don't have a USB 700 make sure you use an external CF card reader that utilizes USB. *The camera doesn't seem to remember the settings you provide very well. It likes to change from XGA to VGA etc.. *The battery charge indicator is very inconsistent. One or two shots into new batterys and the indicator shows a dead battery... then it bounces up and down.... usually you don't really have any idea when your batterys have drained until the camera just rolls over and dies. I took tons of pictures with this camera and every time I look at them I cringe thinking of all the memories that were captured with such poor image quality. Please consider spending a little bit more money if you are a sucker for family pictures and such. When it comes right down to it... picture quality is everything and this camera just doesn't hit the mark. I don't really regret having the camera because of the low price and the fun I had screwing around with it.... but I really get bummed looking at the crummy picture quality now. Also, for all the money that you'll spend on duracells and energizers you could buy a much better camera. By the way... you have to use good alkalines.. you can't cheat and use NIMH recharables with this camera.. it only uses about 50% of the batteries before the camera dies. So, if you're like me it means $5 in batteries each time you want to use the camera. Well... the good news is I've just ordered a Canon G1. Life is good.
Rating: Summary: Worth the money.. Great deal Review: This is my 2nd digital Cam.. my first was the polaroid pdc-640 which I was satisfied with at first till I used the PDC-700 both bought at (store name). The GOOD: Its almost a complete set. You get 4 batteries, AC adaptor, Serial Cable, USB cable(it does have USB), wrist strap and software.. most other cameras in this range you have to buy these things seperate. Out of the box it is ready to use.. It has 4MB built in memory not much.. maybe 40 pics at its default setting which is very good for 4x6 and 5x7. I usually download pics to my old pentium 100 laptop via serial right away when its full. But I just got a 32mb Compact flash card(price) which upped it to 300 pics! The lower settings from 600 to more than 1000 640x480 pics! Other stuff... It has a timer and is tripod mountable.. most other cams dont have that.. Can record live action onto VHS recorder via TV cable. The BAD: Im really irritated with the waitng time between pics which didnt occur with the PDC-640.. you wait a full 10 seconds between clicks to take another pic, even if you delete the picture right away. Not good at live events you want to take alot of pics consecutively.. when viewing pics on tv.. it takes 3 secs. for the picture taken to appear bec it refreshes slowly.
Rating: Summary: Polaroid PDC-700 Review: This is a nice entry level point and shoot camera. I recommend this for someone who wants to start out in digital photography. I do recommend the 48MB CF card, and a professional battery pack. It will go through it's 4 AA's in about 30 minutes, high current draw. But it takes nice photos, and it's nearly indestructible too. In order to use the connection software(serial RS-232) you will need Windows 95+, and use EPP mode. And for the second generation PDC-700(USB enabled) you will need Windows 98+ to use it. Overall, a good entry level digital camera.
Rating: Summary: Pretty good...but spend a bit more for better Review: This is a good, solid digital camera. It's easy to use, has plenty of options, and comes with nice software. Now for the DOWNERS. The upload speed is amazingly slow, and you can't do anything else on your computer during uploads. USB would've been a glorious things for this. It sucks down battery life quickly, but that's why I bought rechargeable batteries with it. Highly recommended for any digital camera, though. Picture quality was pretty good, but could've been better. I highly suggest you spend more money and get something better, preferably with USB upload or a removably memory disk. It only holds 24 or so moderate-quality pictures. Don't get me wrong, I love my Polaroid PDC-700...but when it wears out, I'm definitely spend more money to get something better.
Rating: Summary: Polaroid PDC 700 is a digital wonder. Review: I bought the PDC 700 with all kinds of limitations in mind, first and foremost being cost. I was not going to pay over $300 for a digital camera and I wanted the highest resolution for the least amount of money. I found exactly that with the PDC 700. I also bought three Sandisk 16 mb flash cards, a 32 mb flash card, a battery charger and sufficient nimh batteries, and a Datafab compact flash reader (parallel). This last weekend, I started taking pictures of everything around my house and office. EVERY picture I took on medium resolution far surpasses the picture quality I ever had with 35mm SLR cameras. The printed pictures were also fantastic on my Lexmark Z11 printer.... Bottom line, I can take an infinite number of pictures at a wonderful resolution, crop them if necessary using the Photoshop LE look-alike software included with the camera, and print great pictures the quality of which I have never seen before at a wonderfully low price. This camera is indeed a quality product. The only drawback is the case - it is too small for anything but the camera, so I bought a larger camera bag that holds all the accessories.
Rating: Summary: Great little camera! Review: I bought this camera for about 2 years. It takes very good, clear pictures even on the medium resolution setting. They look very good printed up with a photo printer. Since it didn't hold very many pics, I bought a 64 MB Compact Flash card, and now it holds hundreds, so I don't have to download them often to free up space. Yes, regular downloading is somewhat slow, but there is a slot for a USB cord, it just wasn't included. I have had no problems with the software, or this camera. Yes, it uses batteries quickly (as do all digital cameras) but I opted for easily replaceable AA's instead of rechargable. That's just what works for me, it's easier. All in all, I am very glad I bought this camera and would recommend it to anyone!
Rating: Summary: Wasted precious money Review: Cannot take camera anywhere without being waited down with batteries. It got to be ridiculous to be changing batteries so much. Never got the Photomax to download .I sent it back to the company. They sent it back to me and it has never worked since. Wish I could get a refund. It is in the box with all papers. Directions were too complicated also. Can't afford to buy another one. Afraid the same thing will happen and I certainly can't afford that. The store where I bought it doesn't even handle the product three months later. Does that tell you something?
Rating: Summary: Does the job for the price range... Review: This camera is a good started to digital camera owners. Picture transfer is very easy however a little on the slow side. The biggest downside to this camera is it eats batteries, however it just takes regular batteries so they are easy to obtain.
Rating: Summary: Entry level Digital Camera. Not too good. Review: I bought this camera because at the time it was a decent price and it looked good. Here is what I ended up finding out: Pros: Decent pictures and a good size LCD screen. Cons: Can't use it for long periods without replacing the 4 AA's. There is no zoom. Uploads are slow to your computer since there's no USB. Only holds 24 photos without an extra memory card. Changing the flash for indoor/outdoor is hard to figure out. I advise spending a little more and buying a camera with better features. In the long run this is not really a good investment.
Rating: Summary: DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY..... Review: How I wish I consulted this forum BEFORE wasting my money!! Everyone agrees you need to buy new batteries every time you turn the camera on...but besides that....The software is terrible!! Not user friendly and as SLOW as molasses!! It takes almost a minute to download EACH PHOTO meaning for 30 photos, your computer is tied up for AT LEAST a half hour!! And you can't even go to another program while your waiting!! It's locked on your screen! (It's quicker to take your regular film to the One-hour photo and probably cheaper with the money you spend on batteries!!) Now let's talk about my red-eyed children with fuzzy faces.....aaarrgghhh...don't get me started!!! Don't do it!!!! There has got to be better........
|