Rating: 
Summary: perfect for beginners
Review: Being completely new to digital photography, this is a great buy for beginners. The buttons and menus are easy to understand and 16MB is plenty of room for pictures. Even when taking lowest-quality pictures, they still look great. The user manual is quite simple and foolproof, HP software and the USB cable are working perfectly with my W98SE.
Video capturing worked just fine except the sound was a bit too quiet. Guess it's mostly meant for commenting on what you are currently recording.
For future customers: if you just got the camera and it won't start with regular alkaline batteries, just try the rechargeables. It will work fine after that with batteries as well, but looks like it needs rechargeables on the very first try.
Rating:
Summary: Great features, low cost
Review: Flexible in use. Competes with higher priced cameras in its overall features. Integrates well with PCs and Macs. HP offers high quality and utility at a price you can afford. Storage and resolution great for the price range.
Rating:
Summary: Sturdy Performer
Review: I bought this camera for a two-week hike in very remote country; the selling points for me were the relatively ruggedly designed exterior and the ability to turn off the LCD screen to save battery life. I would have liked the ability to turn the camera on without having the HP logo displayed on the LCD (and the little tone chiming). Especially at night in the woods, the LCD screen is bright enough to be distracting, and since I was aiming my shots through the viewfinder, I didn't need it activated. Even with that minor complaint, this camera gets five stars; it held up like a champ despite being rattled around for two weeks, took terrific pictures (a mini-tripod *really* helped), and it didn't eat too many batteries. Plus my PDA uses SD cards for storage, so I can swap among my devices as needed. I'd strongly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good product
Review: I bought this camera in May 2004 and it seemed an excellent deal at the time (250 dollars). It takes good photos and it's sturdy. I am now upgrading to one of those credit-card size cameras with 4 MP but my brother is buying the HP from me.
There are only a few cons:
-The size and weight. I want a camera that I can fit into my pockets or into the sort of tiny purse you take to parties/weddings, etc.
-Only 16 MB internal memory. I bought a Kingston SD 128 MB card (around 25 dollars) and that was enough for me.
-Pictures tend to come out blurred when using the focus, unless you place them on a solid surface, which is impossible to do most of the times.
-The flash was too strong... eyes wouldn't come out red, but closed!! Seriously, all of the people I took pictures of complained about the intensity of the flash.
The pros:
-Very good pictures.
-Easy to use buttons. I didn't have to read the instructions, the interface was very intuitive.
-Sturdy, butterfingers-proof.
-Good prize.
I have read other reviews where it is advised that you need the docking station... well if you have a computer with USB ports, you don't. It's as easy as plugging the camera to the computer and the files will start uploading inmediately (with the software provided in the CD). And about the battery life... it's funny, but it seemed to get better with time. The camera comes with rechargeable batteries, and I used both those and good alkaline AA batteries for backup. It carries 4 of them, but unless you record many videos, they'll last enough.
Rating:
Summary: easy to use camera
Review: I found that the camera was very easy to learn. The quality of the pics, movies, sound was very good. A couple of things that bring my rating down are:1. Camera has no light, zoom features when taking movies
2. The access to the batteries is a little awkward(sp?) to figure out.
3. The access to the extended memory/usb/tv jack is a little flimsy leaving you with the worry that the cover will come off.
Rating:
Summary: easy to use camera
Review: I found that the camera was very easy to learn. The quality of the pics, movies, sound was very good. A couple of things that bring my rating down are: 1. Camera has no light, zoom features when taking movies
2. The access to the batteries is a little awkward(sp?) to figure out.
3. The access to the extended memory/usb/tv jack is a little flimsy leaving you with the worry that the cover will come off.
Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased
Review: I had originally bought a cheaper 1.2 MP camera to "just try out" digital photography. Once I decided that I liked it, I decided to upgrade to a camera with more zoom capability. We have 4 active kids and take a LOT of pictures. This particular camera had 3.3MP and a total of 12X zoom capabilities and was reasonably priced. I love this camera. It takes awesome pictures. The colors are vivid and works well even under low light conditions (like gymnasiums). Even the action shots come out crisp and clear and I couldn't be more pleased. If I ever decide to upgrade again, I would definitely purchase another HP product. They are competitively priced and the value is tremendous for your dollar.
Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased
Review: I had originally bought a cheaper 1.2 MP camera to "just try out" digital photography. Once I decided that I liked it, I decided to upgrade to a camera with more zoom capability. We have 4 active kids and take a LOT of pictures. This particular camera had 3.3MP and a total of 12X zoom capabilities and was reasonably priced. I love this camera. It takes awesome pictures. The colors are vivid and works well even under low light conditions (like gymnasiums). Even the action shots come out crisp and clear and I couldn't be more pleased. If I ever decide to upgrade again, I would definitely purchase another HP product. They are competitively priced and the value is tremendous for your dollar.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for point and shoot usage
Review: I purchased this camera ~10months ago, based upon reviews I had read. The concensus opinion is that this camera is a good balance between price and photo quality. Overall, I agree with this assessment. But hindsight being 20/20, I don't know if I would buy this camera again because of the lack of manual control or override for the exposure/whitebalance. In use, it is a little bulky but easy to use with one hand. I find that the heft actually helps me keep the camera steady in use. Mixture of brushed aluminum and rubber for the case is aestheticlly pleasing and reassuring to the hand. Autofocus is good and quick in normal to bright light, but slow and easily fooled in dim/low light conditions. The flash is not usefull beyond 15ft. The automatic whitebalance and exposure settings are another matter. In situations where the light level of the centered subject is lower than the light level of the backround, the camera defaults to the backround. You can not totally override the automatic settings so you are left with an underexposed subject. The menu allows for only slight adjustment of the auto settings, but the adjustment range is not great enough. A good example of this problem would be an outdoor picture, where the subject is in the shade but the backround is not. The subject is underexposed, while the backround looks great and no amount of digital processing can reverse the result. I have also used this camera to photograph items for Ebay auctions. For this purpose, the camera is perfect. With some attention paid to lighting, the photos are well exposed with excellent fine detail. The included HP Photosmart software is basic, but usefull. Like the camera itself, there are not alot of custom editing options. The USB link from the camera to the software is quick and automatic. Data transfer of a full 64mb card takes ~3min. Slow to some, but OK by me. The included 16mb of onboard memory holds ~11 full resolution pictures. I purchased a 64mb plug in card, which can hold ~52 full resolution shots. What is interesting is that the onboard memory and the plug in memory are segregated. You can fill up the onboard memory and then plug in the card and fill it up. Used this way, I can take a total of 63 high resolution photos. Battery life is fine. I did invest in recharchable batteries and I get ~160-180 photos per charge. I would estimate that I use the LCD screen ~1/2 the time. Like most camera LCD screens, it is usefull in all but daytime outdoor conditions. For pictures from a distance of less than 15ft, there is a bit of parallax(sp) error between the viewfinder and what the camera records. But once you see the difference a few times, it is easy to compensate for by framing your subject to be just a bit offcenter in the viewfinder. This is not a problem to me, but may be to others. In summary, this is a good point and shoot camera for most situations. Manual features are limited. Used withing it's limitations it is fine. If you need manual control over exposure/whitebalance, look elsewhere. If you want a simple, rugged camera for casual use, the 720 should be a candidate, expecially at current prices.
Rating:
Summary: Good for point and shoot usage
Review: I purchased this camera ~10months ago, based upon reviews I had read. The concensus opinion is that this camera is a good balance between price and photo quality. Overall, I agree with this assessment. But hindsight being 20/20, I don't know if I would buy this camera again because of the lack of manual control or override for the exposure/whitebalance. In use, it is a little bulky but easy to use with one hand. I find that the heft actually helps me keep the camera steady in use. Mixture of brushed aluminum and rubber for the case is aestheticlly pleasing and reassuring to the hand. Autofocus is good and quick in normal to bright light, but slow and easily fooled in dim/low light conditions. The flash is not usefull beyond 15ft. The automatic whitebalance and exposure settings are another matter. In situations where the light level of the centered subject is lower than the light level of the backround, the camera defaults to the backround. You can not totally override the automatic settings so you are left with an underexposed subject. The menu allows for only slight adjustment of the auto settings, but the adjustment range is not great enough. A good example of this problem would be an outdoor picture, where the subject is in the shade but the backround is not. The subject is underexposed, while the backround looks great and no amount of digital processing can reverse the result. I have also used this camera to photograph items for Ebay auctions. For this purpose, the camera is perfect. With some attention paid to lighting, the photos are well exposed with excellent fine detail. The included HP Photosmart software is basic, but usefull. Like the camera itself, there are not alot of custom editing options. The USB link from the camera to the software is quick and automatic. Data transfer of a full 64mb card takes ~3min. Slow to some, but OK by me. The included 16mb of onboard memory holds ~11 full resolution pictures. I purchased a 64mb plug in card, which can hold ~52 full resolution shots. What is interesting is that the onboard memory and the plug in memory are segregated. You can fill up the onboard memory and then plug in the card and fill it up. Used this way, I can take a total of 63 high resolution photos. Battery life is fine. I did invest in recharchable batteries and I get ~160-180 photos per charge. I would estimate that I use the LCD screen ~1/2 the time. Like most camera LCD screens, it is usefull in all but daytime outdoor conditions. For pictures from a distance of less than 15ft, there is a bit of parallax(sp) error between the viewfinder and what the camera records. But once you see the difference a few times, it is easy to compensate for by framing your subject to be just a bit offcenter in the viewfinder. This is not a problem to me, but may be to others. In summary, this is a good point and shoot camera for most situations. Manual features are limited. Used withing it's limitations it is fine. If you need manual control over exposure/whitebalance, look elsewhere. If you want a simple, rugged camera for casual use, the 720 should be a candidate, expecially at current prices.
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