Rating: 
Summary: wish i bought a recharger with this
Review: nice camera, great pictures... but be sure to buy a recharger or you can be sure to spend pleny on batteries. just to take 6 pictures from this scan to your computer the batteries went dead. but the price was right at the time. ... thank you.. cathy
Rating: 
Summary: Nice cam bad company
Review: It's a very nice Digital Camera. I don't need anything more for casual picture taking. You need to invest in a new flash card... the 4MB one is nothing. The camera is a little fussy but once you get used to it you will be fine...If you want a camera to have fun with this is a good choice.
I give the device such a low review becuase I had issues with it with Windows XP and HP was of no help what-so-ever. The person I talked to at tech support asked 5 questions prased differantly about when I bought the camera (if it was in warenty perriod). After answering correctly on the first 4 questions I said it was in 2000 instead of 2001 and I was immediatly transfered to someone who was going to take my information to bill me (it was early in the morning and I made a mistake!). I told the guy that is was withing the past year. I told him it was last summer. That is the most recent summer ago. I explained thoughly and then he asked "So what you are saying is that you bought it in the Summer of 2000" and stupid me I agreed! I just wanted to get my camera working and be done with all the blasted questions! So I had to dig up my recipt (luckily I bought it on Amazon). The person I talked to wouldn't even accept my product regestration!
So now I will NEVER buy ANYTHING from HP again. If they want my business they darn well better help me out easily when their equipment breaks!
Rating:
Summary: Meh.
Review: I bought this camera, and I think I could have done better for the price, and I think you can too. The time it takes for the camera to take the picture after you push the button is horrendously long, so have fun taking action shots. Also, I hope you have stock in Energizer, or some rechargable batteries, because the camera goes through them like me and some cheap burritos. Picture quality is not great. I take them in the top quality, bring it down to 800x600, and then they look ok. Otherwise, they're really fuzzy.
Rating:
Summary: Warning: 215 Camera
Review: I have an HP 215 camera. The other day I had deleted pictures using the delete feature in the software. After that, the camera wouldn't hold pictures into memory. I have used this feature many times with no problems. I called HP customer service. They told me DO NOT use the delete photos feature in your software. It can render the camera basically useless. I told the rep. that I have been using it since I got the camera in June with no problems. He said there is some sort of issue with all the editing software. I use PhotoImpression which came with the camera. He told me to ONLY delete pictures manually using the camera itself. I told him that they needed to post this somewhere. It even says to use the delete photos option (in the software) in the quick reference book. Luckily, my camera was still under warranty. They shipped a replacement asap. Also, the 215 isn't suppose to use rechargeable batties.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good camera ... after you buy a lot of add-ons
Review: For the price, I suppose this is a decent camera. Picture quality is reasonably good, some of the features are handy. The camera itself is lightweight, and easy to use. It's really a nice, expensive toy for the first-time digital camera owner, or a person uses cameras infreqently. If you're planning to use the camera more often, however, you will need to buy a few things to make it worth your while. Battery life is about 20 pictures if you're careful about not using autopreview, so get the AC adapter. If you want printable-quality pictures, the 4MB card that comes with the camera isn't going to cut it, so you'll need to buy at least a 64 meg card. The software that ships with it (Arcsoft PhotoImpression)is miserably bad, so if you don't already own PhotoShop or some other program that reads from digital cameras, you'll probably want to invest in something like that. The one that really burns me, however, is that (as packaged) this camera does NOT work with Windows XP. Owing to what they have called a "copyright issue," HP can not offer XP drivers for free on their web site, but will ship them to you a CD for an additional $10 dollars.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT first time camera
Review: I purchased this camera and it takes some really good pictures considering the small price.I liked the software much better than a more expensive camera that I have now.For everyday snapshots this camera works great.It does eat up the batteries VERY FAST.I used a AC adapter with mine wish ... was well worth it.Don't be afraid of this camera as it is simple to use and takes some good pictures.
Rating: 
Summary: I have been thru two of these!!
Review: This camera was nothing but trouble. I thought the first one would be just a lemon, but the second one I bought tore up to!! The picture wouldnt take half the time on one of the cameras, and the other one, the LCD screen broke! The manufacter wouldn't help me out at all, so I am looking for another one now!
Rating:
Summary: Review and tips for Newbies from experienced user
Review: General Opinion of Camera
------------------------- I am a gadget guy. I use this camera more than I was using my old 35 mm autofocus camera. I like being able to snap pics and email them right away. The quality is good enough for the internet and it is fun for my 9 year old to use. For people who are perfectionists, don't get this camera. Save your money and spend the extra hundreds for a 2.1 megapixel with an optical zoom. I, however, am having fun taking pics around work and on the weekends and rushing home to edit them in Photoshop. If you like gadgets and want to get in on digital photography and don't have much money, I recommend the camera: This is an autofocus camera, and as with all such cameras, you have to tinker with the focus to make sure your subject is focused right. It just takes a bit of practice. The digital zoom is a waste of time. Don't get excited. You get the same effect by taking the pic regular and then zooming in Photoshop later. BUT the macro is cool. I have gotten some cool closeup shots with it. The quality of the pics seems to be the same as with a normal film-based camera as far as color and exposure stuff. A lot of people have said the batteries get terrible life. This is not my experience. I have found that if I keep the camera off unless I am using it, as well as not using the LCD except for quick peeks at important shots to make sure things are okay, I can get many, many pics of a set off batteries in superfine mode. I am on around 400 total pics so far and on my third set of AA Duracell Ultras. Some have said that rechargeables work, and others have reported their CCD getting fried. I am not taking a chance. One more thing: when the camera is done with the batteries and can't take a pic, the batteries still have power and are worth holding on to for extras for flashlights, radios, etc... don't just chuck them. Issues
------ You definitely do get a parallax issue with the camera in certain situations (what you see in the viewfinder is not what the pic ends up being). This is not a big deal and is the same with all non SLR cameras. I have just gotten used to the tendency of the camera and compensate for it. The biggest design flaw is the on/off switch. It is way too easy to flip on. I am sure my batteries would last even longer if the off switch were to stay off. The second biggest flaw is that there is nothing protecting the lens. Well, the lens is behind a plastic clear covering, but still, you scratch the plastic covering,that's it, you are screwed. Tips for newbies considering buying this camera
----------------------------------------------- It is REALLY important for those thinking of getting ANY digital camera to understand that you NEED to get extras that cost you more than you are expecting: 1) You need to get a compact flash card with much bigger memory because the pictures are usually not going to make you happy unless you are using the superfine mode, and when you are using the superfine mode, you can only get around 10 pictures on the included 4mb card. 2) You need to get an AC adapter to use whenever possible to spare your batteries. You should use the AC adapter when transferring pics to your computer unless you buy a SanDisk or similar card reader (see below) instead. Also, you need the AC adapter to use when reviewing your pics on an LCD when possible, or when inside, so you can snap away with flash and not burn your batteries. 3) You need to get a compact flash reader like SanDisk. I use SanDisk. I prefer this to the included software because I can just drag the pics to my pic folder very quickly and open them up in Protoshop for processing. It is much simpler than having to hook the USB up to the camera and it saves your batteries. All this stuff will end up costing you [extra] bucks. This is not considering costs for glossy photo paper and the like, or the batteries.
Rating:
Summary: Entry Level Only, and Suggested one Look Elsewhere.
Review: If you, dear reader, have plowed through the eighty or so reviews to reach these words, congraduations. I've owned my 215 for two and a half months. 95% of the previous reviewers comments are concured with. Long pleased with HP Printer products the high hopes for the 215 were not realized. Highest on my disappointment list would be the software package and lack of good documentation. Second would be the consturction of a camera specifically for AA sized cell usage without providing for the use of rechargeables which 95% of the consumer base would wish to use. Suspected is that this will be a throw-a-way. I'll use it till it breaks and then throw it away. That may be sooner than later. The last "unusual" glitch were photos taken taking up space on the memory card yet not showing images upon viewback. Another nice software conflict was the requirement to delete images on the memory card after uploading so the next batch on the card could be uploaded (large memory card). [Update 5-6/02] This has worked out better than orginally expected but not enough to change the rating. By removing batteries between longer periods of inactivity battey life is extended and the performance is acceptable. Biggest complaint now is that the screen has always been too dim to use outdoors. But combined with the Photosmart 100 and printing right off the memory cards, the output is surpriningly solid for the price. The software/camera interface issues and battery problem which should be a product strength, combine to suggest one read a lot more prior to securing any digital camera product. Good hunting!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best camera I have used
Review: I am a very Price Concious Person. I want every penny return on wht i spend. I was searching for a Digital Camera in a very reasonable price and should also be Very Good in Quality. I have searched many website for different companies digital cameras. Finally decided to buy it from Amazon.com (thankyou for FREE shipping before X-mas). I have used 2 digital Cameras in Past. One got lost other stopped working after a while (UMAX..i wont buy any product of yours again) This HP 215 worked very well, even my 6 yr old kid can operate it. The built-in small screen on back, help you a lot. The only bad thing about it is, it Eat a lot of batteries and dosn't support Rechargeable Cells (as i was told my HP Manual). One advice....4MB card is insufficient, I recommand everyone to buy a big memory card. Well, i give this product 4 out of 5 stars (not giving 1 Start for not supporting Rechargeable Cells) Goodluck and enjoy.
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