Rating: Summary: Nice camera bad customer sapport Review: This is my first digital camera so I really have nothing to compare it to. It seemed easy to use. All though it really uses up batteries. The Lcd Display is nice but unviewable out side in the day light. I had to get it repaired after owning it less then one year because the LCD display started rolling and I can tell you customer sapport is a joke. They tell you the wrong things to do like buying a extended warranty and then not knowing any thing about it and when you try to straight it out they give you the run around. I bet I've talked to 5 people now and waiting to hear from a sixth that sapposed to straight it out but it's been 2 days and nothing. I would not buy this carmera just because of the bad sapport. I'm mad as hell!
Rating: Summary: Discrepency Review: I am in the market for a digital camera for under $250 and have read all the reviews on this camera. I was just at the largest discount department store in the country and saw that the PDC-700 DID HAVE a serial and USB port. Did Polaroid see the falw of only having a serial port and add a USB connection to their camera without changing the model number? Check this descrepency out before deciding on a camera because if the PDC-700 you find does have USB and SERIAL connections then it is definitely a great buy.
Rating: Summary: A Waste of My Time Review: I purchased this camera with the understanding that it featured USB support, and ended up returning it before even using it. One, the online manual doesn't even contain the word USB. Two, the FAQ on Polaroid's web site states that only cameras manufactured in 2000 have USB support, and there is no way I could have found this out prior to purchasing it. Three, Polaroid's technical support is a complete joke, trying to tell me that the PDC700 doesn't even have USB support at all, despite what their own website says! Needless to say, I'm returning this and purchasing another camera from a real company possessing some semblance of a clue.
Rating: Summary: PDC 700 Review: I got my PDC 700 last christmas. I've had alot of fun with it. I work for a newspaper and some times I come up on something that is of interest to the paper. I download the pics on my computer and email it to them. Thus, it gets printed. Now I've started taking pictures as a side job. I load them on my computer, crop them and resize them (usually to print 8 x 10) in Adobe Photoshop. But when I print them out they look terrible!! HELP!! PLEASE!! What can I do??!! Right now I'm shooting a job that they need in a few days.
Rating: Summary: Real Estate Photos Review: As real estate agents, we were spending $800+ a year on print film & developing of real estate listing photos. This camera quickly paid for itself. The lens isn't the best, as many interior shots exhibit vertical bending at the edges of the print. The vertical portions of doorways and kitchen cabinets are frequently distorted, but most are easily cropped using image enhancing software. We used to take multiple 35mm photos, trying to capture that perfect print - now we stand back a little further, take ONE wider image and crop it as required. Lighting is no longer a problem - we can take an image on any of Cleveland's many overcast days and make it a good image, again, using image inhancing software. The standard 4MB RAM will hold 12 high res images or 25 medium res images. We convert the original JPG to a TIF, do our enhancements, then convert back to a 72dpi JPG for images that are posted to our Web site (www.ruthmather.com). Inkjet inside handouts look great as long as you use quality paper. The PDC-700 is small enough to fit into your pocket, but people look at the bulge in your pants somewhat strangely - so I use the belt loop on the included case. The only mechanical problem that we've experienced is that the "battery status" display will never show more than half-charge. I sent the camera back to Polaroid and they replaced it with no questions asked. The new one does the same. We still believe that the PDC-700 provides us with "the most digital bang for the buck."
Rating: Summary: The straight dope Review: Well, I put 5 stars because i thought that would actually appear on the amazon web page...in reality i would give it 2 stars.The pluses you can read on other people's reviews. They are accurate. But for the minuses, there are some serious ones: -- The battery charger and rechargable batteries will cost you around $50. Keep this in mind when comparing to cameras that come with battery packs. -- It is ONLY downloadable on windows 95/98. Not on the Mac, not on NT and certainly not on Linux. -- If you lose the CD-Rom that comes with it, forget about getting the software you need on the web. As far as i can tell if you lose that CD, you are [in trouble]. -- You lose the time/date info every time the batteries die, which is all the time. -- There is no way (that i can find, admittedly i haven't downloaded the user's manual from the website...please!), to save the settings that you prefer. So every power up you have to set the resolution, flash mode, etc. if you want something other than the default.
Rating: Summary: A few improvements and it'd be excellent! Review: Polaroid did a pretty good job on this camera. Let's break it down step by step: ADVANTAGES: 1) 4 MB built-in memory - this is a fair amount compared to other comparable cameras. 2) Compact Flash compatible for adding more memory - Compact Flash cards are relatively inexpensive - it's like film you can use forever! Just drop it in, take the pictures, and when the card fills up, replace it (or use the 4 MB built-in). 3) The LCD display is great. Not choppy - you can even adjust the brightness. It can be turned off to decrease battery drain. Also, immediately after you take a picture, it will display the picture on the LCD (whether you have it on or off) and ask if you want to delete it now? This is great when you take a picture and look at it and immediately know you don't want it. 4) Menu functions. Once you figure it out, the menu is really cool. You change what type of light you will be taking pictures in, you can format the memory, erase all or one picture in the camera, etc. 5) The software is great. You can actually hook your camera up to your computer, and from the software you can change the camera settings without ever touching the camera (you can take a picture, turn on/off the lcd display, change flash formats and picture quality, etc.). 6) Accessories. The kit comes with a TV cable, a nice camera case, a wrist strap, a serial (RS-232) cable for camera-computer connection, BRAND-NAME batteries (that's a shocker - I got Duracell ULTRA with mine), AC Adapter, and software. There is also a USB port as well - I'm going to look into this because serial transfer is SLOW.... DISADVANTAGES: 1) Slow downloads. I have a PII-400 w/ 128MB RAM. Still, I downloaded 15 1024x768 (Fine quality mode - read more about quality modes further down) pictures that I took, and it took almost a minute per picture. 2) There are 2 settings: 1024x768 (they call this XGA), and 640x480 (they call this VGA). Each of these settings also has 3 quality modes (SuperFine, Fine, and Normal). SuperFine is the only one worth taking pictures with. Other modes are grainy. 3) Battery Life. Actually, every digital camera on the face of the earth drains batteries almost instantly - so this really is just a disadvantage among ALL digital cameras. That's why I'm glad this thing came with an AC Adapter. Just be sure to use the AC Adapter whenever you can (especially when you are first playing with it and fooling around with the LCD - that thing REALLY drains batteries!). 4) I wish this thing came with a USB cable. It has a USB OUT on the camera, but it's a tiny little connector and I have no idea what type USB cable to buy for it. Yeah, it comes with a serial cable, but that is SLOW. USB has GOT to be faster. 5) As everyone else has said, NO documentation whatsoever. Just get on the Polaroid website and pull off the product manual - that. Strangely enough, the product manual doesn't come with the camera! All in all, a GREAT camera. Buy it and you won't be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Good buy for you money Review: At the advice of a friend who had recently aquired the PDC 640, I went out to get me one, but I ended up getting the PDC 700. It is a great camera for starters and has a great starter kit and easy to use software. The only bad thing is I had to download a user's manual from the Polaroid website. This needs to be on the documentation somewhere when you purchase the product. They go through the trouble of having documentation in the package suggesting the use of Duracell Ultra Batteries, you would think they would let the user know that there is no user's guide enclosed but you can go to the website and download it. Had it not been for the fact that I went to the website to complain that I had purchased this product and there was no documentation outside of the Quick Starter guide. The camera itself and the pictures it produces is great ... but needs to have more documentation or be clear on where you can get it.
Rating: Summary: Good value, nice and complete starter kit, poor docs Review: This is a very good vlaue for money and the camera comes wiuth some extras that the comparable C200 from HP does not include. Specifically, the AC adapter is a big plus. The matching carrying case makes it even better of a pacakge deal. Make sure you buy rechargables though, and make sure you do not get NiCd batteries as they drain a little too fast to make anyone happy. Either get a four pack of NimH AA batteries and charger for about $27 total (NexCell brand). The unit also has a USB connection that is not documented anywhere at all. Overall, this seems to be a nice package that I've not heard bad things from anyone about.
Rating: Summary: Good value Camera Review: Very good start up digital Camera. I had difficulties with installations of Flash memory card but then workedout fine. Easy download and opeartions. you need a lot of battaries. A lot of fun for the whole family
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