Rating: 
Summary: This is a great camera!
Review: This camera is so easy to use, and it takes great pictures. I put off buying a digital camera for a long time. Too complicated, I thought. Too much to learn, it'll be a hassle to use with the computer. But our business required that we advance and go digital. When it came, I was apprehensive. But within minute's of reading through the basic operation's manual, I was snapping pic's around the house! Wow, I thought! What took me so long?! It's very user-friendly, it feels and fits well into your hand, is light-weight & has a large view window. I like that it's a marriage of both HP and Pentax technologies. Both companies that I know and trust. It come's with an infra-red remote to snap shots, but I found this a little tricky to use as you have to get it pointed at the camera just right in order to triger a shot. The automatic timer works better. There was one clitch however. It was draining the batteries over night. I called HP and they somewhat hinted that, yes, that was a little problem with a few of them. But it was no problem at all to swap it for another new one with either Amazon, or HP. I'm glad we opted to try again and not choose another brand. The 2nd. one has a much longer battery life (week's), and we use it a lot. If this is to be your first digital camera, I'd recommend you also order an extra flash card, extra set of rechargable batteries and a re-charger, and a card-reader. I like the "SanDisk" reader. It's simple and easy to use. So figure on spending at least another $100.00 on accessories. For a mid-range digital camera, in my opinion, this one can't be beat.
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice camera for the money
Review: This camera offers impressive quality and features for a reasonable price. This was my first experience with a digital camera so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was surprised to find that the camera is exceptionally easy to use and takes great photographs.You really don't even need to read the manual to start taking pictures. The "getting started" guide helps you install the memory card and batteries and then you are off and running. For the most part, all camera function can be figured out by navigation the well designed menus. This is especially good since the full manual is only included in PDF format on the software CD. So far, all of the pictures I've taken have had very nice color balance and depth. Naturally, the quality setting on the camera (of which there are 3) has a signficant effect on the imagine quality.. but I have been satisfied with the results at all quality levels. The included memory card has 16 megabytes of storage. This will get you about 29 images at medium quality, ~ 15 at high quality and 2 at the high quality setting (which uses no compression). 16 megabytes gives you plenty of storage to get started with the camera, but you'll probably want to invest in something larger once you start using it more. Of course, this camera has it's set of downsides. - On occasion the response time from the zoom is a bit slow. You'll press the zoom buttom (which is nicely located right where your thumb rests) and it might take a second or so for the zoom to move. - The screen on the back of the camera isn't bright enough for outdoor photography. This only becomes a problem when you are using the macro feature. Normally the viewfinder gets the job done, but with macro photos the viewfinder doesn't accurately show what the lens sees so you must use the screen. Unfortunately the screen can be almost impossible to see on a sunny day. - When looking through the viewfinder your nose presses against the rear screen. This doesn't present a problem from a usage perspective but you'll find the screen needs constant cleaning.
Rating: 
Summary: SWEET!
Review: This camera rocks. Great quality and is a breeze to use. There are 2 items you will need. 1. the power adapter and 2. rechargeable batteries. In fact my one and only complaint is battery life. A must buy!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Camera For The Money, Hands Down!
Review: This was my fist foray into the digital camera arena, and what a wonderful surprise. I did much research before making the purchase, so I had an idea of what to expect for a low-end camera. I did not experience the ususal problems I had heard about with digitals: center in viewfinder not true to center of actual picture; color off; focus off, etc. The camera was purchased prior to a vacation in the desert and on a lake and the shots came out beautifully and quite crisp. The color was stunningly accurate and the shots perfectly focused - even the action shots. The menu is easy to understand and the camera easy to program. The minuses: indoor shots needing flash are trickier; many have come out either too bright or too dark; and the LED screen presents a much smaller picture than other digitals do. Additionally, the LED does not have good contrast, making it difficult to see details, despite the control functions for it. All in all, I am extremely happy with the finished photos and the camera itself.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect starter digital camera
Review: This was my fist foray into the digital camera arena, and what a wonderful surprise. I did much research before making the purchase, so I had an idea of what to expect for a low-end camera. I did not experience the ususal problems I had heard about with digitals: center in viewfinder not true to center of actual picture; color off; focus off, etc. The camera was purchased prior to a vacation in the desert and on a lake and the shots came out beautifully and quite crisp. The color was stunningly accurate and the shots perfectly focused - even the action shots. The menu is easy to understand and the camera easy to program. The minuses: indoor shots needing flash are trickier; many have come out either too bright or too dark; and the LED screen presents a much smaller picture than other digitals do. Additionally, the LED does not have good contrast, making it difficult to see details, despite the control functions for it. All in all, I am extremely happy with the finished photos and the camera itself.
Rating:
Summary: Great first digital!
Review: This was our first digital camera and, after a lot of research, we are happy that we chose this one. It takes great pictures, lets you know if it is in focus or not, it's easy to use and has a lot of features. My least favorite things are 1) it occassionaly takes some effort to get an indoor shot "in focus" if it's not really bright inside and 2) it takes very few pictures with my rechargable batteries in (so I would hesitate to take it on vacation or something). We use it several times a week around the house and have been very happy with it.
Rating:
Summary: Great first digital!
Review: This was our first digital camera and, after a lot of research, we are happy that we chose this one. It takes great pictures, lets you know if it is in focus or not, it's easy to use and has a lot of features. My least favorite things are 1) it occassionaly takes some effort to get an indoor shot "in focus" if it's not really bright inside and 2) it takes very few pictures with my rechargable batteries in (so I would hesitate to take it on vacation or something). We use it several times a week around the house and have been very happy with it.
Rating:
Summary: A bit tough to handle...
Review: Very nice camera! I'm a little worried about touching the LCD preview screen and this camera doesn't quite fit right in my hands yet. Still this did not affect my rating! The pictures are good and the camera has many features for the price. The remote is a surprisingly handy extra. Wish it held more pictures, but if I buy a bigger compact flash card then that problem would be fixed as well! I am very impressed with the camera considering it's low price. A great buy.
Rating:
Summary: THE HP C618 DIGITAL---WOW!!! WHAT A CAMERA!!!
Review: WE AGONIZED FOR WEEKS BEFORE SELECTING THE HP 618---WENT TO THE OFFICE SUPPLY PLACES, CIRCUIT CITY, SAMS CLUB AND OTHER DISCOUNT PLACES---LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO TAKE US BY THE HAND AND RECOMMEND A CAMERA THAT WOULD SATISFACTORILY TAKE THE PICTURES WE NEEDED. WE TOOK A SAMPLE TO EACH STORE WE VISITED AND TOLD EACH SALESPERSON "THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO TAKE PICTURES OF, PLEASE SHOW US A CAMERA THAT WILL DO IT". MUCH TO OUR DISMAY, NOT A SINGLE SALESPERSON COULD SUGGEST WHAT WE NEEDED; ACTUALLY MOST OF THEM COULD NOT EVEN TURN THE CAMERAS ON!! WHEN WE SAT BACK AND REVIEWED ALL THE DISCUSSIONS AND INFO WE GLEANED FROM THESE STORE VISITS, WE FELT WE NEEDED A CAMERA WITH AT LEAST 2 MEGAPIXELS AND A 2X OR 3X OPTICAL ZOOM FOR THE CLOSEUP WORK THAT WAS PART OF OUR REQUIREMENT AND IF WE FOUND A CAMERA THAT COULD HANDLE THE CLOSEUPS, THE REMAINDER WOULD BE A NO BRAINER. HAVING HAD A LOT OF EXPERIENCE USING HP EQUIPMENT(COMPUTERS,GAS CHROMATOGRAPHS,AND VARIOUS TEST EQUIPMENT) WE FELT IF HP PUT THEIR NAME ON IT THEN IT HAD TO BE BETTER THAN MOST, SO THE HP618 WAS OUR FINAL CHOICE(OUR PURCHASE CAME WITH A 30-DAY RETURN POLICY). WE FELT THAT WITHIN A WEEK WE WOULD KNOW IF THE CAMERA WOULD DO OUR JOBS AND HOW TO USE IT. WELL, WITHIN AN HOUR AFTER RECEIVING THE CAMERA, LOADING THE SOFTWARE ON THE PC, AND READING THE SHORT "HOW TO GET GOING" BOOKLET, WE WERE TAKING PICTURES LIKE A PRO!! THIS CAMERA CAN DO IT ALL! SINCE MOST OF OUR WORK IS INSIDE, WE BOUGHT A POWER ADAPTOR, A MUST!
Rating:
Summary: A very good value in a mid-range camera
Review: We've had the 618 for several months now. It's a been a great value. We particularly appreciated the higher resolution and flexibility that this camera offered in the price range. We paired this camera with a Photosmart 1215 printer and that has made printing very simple (we print by sending images through the camera's infrared port or through the smartcard). HP's basic photoprinting software is very easy to use and allows you to make basic adjustments in photographs prior to printing. The included 3rd party photoediting software is adequate but not a match for Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements which we purchased later. We'd buy the camera again, but in our next camera we would look for these improvements on the 618: (1) Printed colors seem a bit faded for shots taken in daytime lighting.
(2) The LCD display washes out in normal daylight (a problem most of these cameras apparently share).
(3) The 16 MB smartcard included is large for cameras in this price range but insufficient (we immediately bout a 64 MB card).
(4) Battery life seems short, I'd recommend purchasing the rechargable battery.
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