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 If
the cost and delay of waiting for your prints to come back competes
with tight deadlines for creating presentations, the Hewlett-Packard
Photosmart C500 Digital Camera may provide a solution. Unlike
the grainy images from digital cameras of years gone by, the
HP C500 camera can take very clear photographs.
The capacity for taking clear pictures with a digital camera
is measured in the number of millions of pixels or megapixels
that the camera uses to captures an image. A good rule of thumb
is that the more megapixels you have, the higher the image quality.
The HP500C can create images of two megapixels (1600 x 1200)
but you can choose three other settings with lower resolution.
The higher the resolution, the fewer pictures you can store
on the 16-megabyte (MB) CompactFlash memory cards and the more
storage space will be required on your computer to manage and
edit the images.
At the highest setting, you get the highest resolution and clearest
photo but only about 13 pictures. The lowest of the four resolution
settings gives you room for more than a hundred.
With digital cameras, however, the resource to be managed --
far beyond available storage space -- is battery life.
The HP C500 comes with three AA Li-Ion batteries and a charger.
You may be tempted to buy some alkaline batteries as a backup.
Don't bother. Three new alkaline batteries may allow you to
take only one or two photos -- at most.
The HP C500 battery discharge indicator has three positions:
full charge, half charge and no charge. This is frustratingly
imprecise and full may not be as full as you think. By the time
the indicator shows a half charge, you may be able to take only
two or three more pictures. You may want to pick up the AC adapter
available for this camera.
The gray graphite textured finish is attractive. The camera
is slightly boxy and its five-by-three-by-two-inch size feels
strangely out of synch with its weight, which is less than a
pound without batteries. But it is light and comfortable to
hold.
The image in the viewfinder won't correspond exactly to the
recorded image, which will be larger. This is common to many
digital cameras and is easily compensated for.
The HP C500 comes with a universal serial bus (USB) port. This
makes transferring image files quick and painless. A small camera
icon runs on your task bar in Windows and lets you know when
you have a connection with your camera. Remember to turn the
camera on when synchronizing, or the computer will report no
connection.
You can also use the infrared port on the front of the camera
to transfer images. HP's Infrared JetSend Technology is compatible
with other HP products to allow wireless data transfer and printing.
Using the CompactFlash storage cards, it is also easy to remove
the card and plug it into your Jornada Pocket PC, or other supported
devices, to view your images. This makes taking and managing
photos very modular and simple to use.
There is a lag between when you press the shutter release button
and when the ready light comes on again. To compensate, the
HP C500 has a burst option. It takes a series of photos, one
after another. This allows you to catch the photo you want and
delete the rest.
The two-inch, color liquid crystal display screen on the camera's
back is clear and bright and the camera comes with a 6x total
zoom (3x optical, 2x digital). This is a nice feature and helps
to improve photos when the photographer's skill has failed.
By itself, this camera is not expensive. As with all digital
cameras, if you have to buy a printer and a computer to manage
the pictures, the cost can be significant. The traditional,
single-lens-reflex camera has not been made redundant yet.
Reviewer's rating: 4 / 5
Comments: The HP C500 is light, easy to use and well-designed
digital camera. It is easy to transfer and manage picture files.
The total cost of using this camera goes up if you have to buy
a printer and a computer to use it.
Specifications: runs on Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 and Mac/iMac
operating systems. ISO 80 exposure rating, 2 megapixels (1600
x 1200 pixels) resolution, 2-1/1000 second shutter speed, compatible
with 16 MB CompactFlash memory cards, has a 38 mm glass lens
(115 mm lens equivalent), has HP JetSend, USB and serial interface,
Std USB connectivity to PC/Mac, serial to PC, NTSC/PAL to TV/video.
System requirements (PC): 133 MHz Pentium processor
required (300 MHz Pentium II for optimal performance), 32 MB
RAM (64 MB recommended), 150 MB available hard drive space,
640x480/256-color display monitor (800x600/16-bit or higher
display recommended), CD-ROM (4X-speed recommended), 9-pin serial
port (25-pin serial port requires additional connector), USB
connectivity for Windows 98.
System requirements (iMac/Macintosh): 120 MHz Power
PC required (233 MHz Power PC for optimal performance), 16 MB
RAM (64 MB recommended), 32 MB available hard drive space (64
MB recommended), 640x480/256-color display monitor (1024x768/16-bit
or higher recommended), USB, Mac OS 8.6 or greater required,
CD-ROM (4x-speed recommended).
Price: $500 US, $750 Canadian
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Adding RAM is easy, 
