Hewlett Packard's aggressive assault on the digital imaging market continues with the PhotoSmart 215, an easy to use digital camera that offers good quality in a small package. HP... more
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other electronic appliances. The interchangeable DC plugs included are for center plus and polarity protection. Any setting of the output voltage selector switch is protected against unintentional change of voltage. A power on LED and 2 rubber grips for easy handling rounds off the high specification of a neat, compact and easy to carry power supply for worldwide use. Output voltage in 6 fixed steps 2.4v, 3v, 4.2v, 5v, 6v, 6.5v, 7v, 8.4V to match the voltage specifically needed for most digital cameras. 5 inter changeable centre plus and polarity protected DC plugs included. (Plug dimensions 1.7 x 4.75 / 1.7 x 4 / 1.4 x 3.5 / 0.75 x 2.4 / 5.5 x 2.1 all right angled plugs).
A review by Cdm on HP PhotoSmart 215 October 6th, 2001
Author's product rating:
Picture Quality
Excellent
Range & Quality of Features
Excellent
Ease of Use
Very Easy
Durability
Good
Overall Look & Design
Good
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Extremley easy to set up and use
Disadvantages:
Battery life
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I bought this digital camera as part of a Digital Camera/Printer package, purely because it was a bargin, and because I have wanted a digital camera for ages.
The package was a Hewlett Packard package, consisting of the camera, and an HP Deskjet 950c Inkjet Printer. It cost £176.
When I got home, the first thing I wanted to do was to play with my new toy. I absolutely hate having to read through huge manuals before I can use something. HP have done a good job here, and have kept me happy. In the box with the camera was the manual, and a quickstart guide.
Also included were: The camera, 4 AA batteries, 4mb Compact Flash memory card, wrist strap, USB cable and software.
The quick start guide gave me all the information I needed, how to put in the batteries, compact flash card, and basic operation of the camera.
Off I went around the house, annoying the rest of my family, taking pictures of things. It takes a few attempts to get the hang of taking puctures. You can either use the viewfinder, or the little screen on the back of the camera. I prefer using the screen, as it is much more accurate than using the viewfinder. Basically you point the camera at what you want to take a photo of and press the button half way down. The camera will then focus and a little green light will come on. Then you press the button the rest of the way down, and the picture is taken. You are then shown the picture on the screen for a few secconds.
Well, I had taken my pictures and filled up the compact flash card, so now it was time to get them onto my computer. The 4mb card supplied can hold 5 pictures in Super-Fine mode, 10 in Fine mode and 36 in Basic mode.
Supplied with the camera is a piece of software called Photo Impression. Before I plugged the camera in I installed this, so that I would have something to view and edit my photos in. Then, still using the quick start guide, I plugged the camera in. It plugs into one of your computers USB ports. As soon as I plugged it in and turned it on it was detected. As I already had the supplied cd in the drive which also contains the drivers, I didn't have to do anything. In about 30 seconds the camera was installed.
I then opened up Photo Impression, and downloaded the photos to my computer. The quick start guide included instructions to do this as well, so I managed to set up the camera and software, take some photos, download them to the computer and view them, all without opening the manual, and within 15 minutes of unpacking the camera. In my opinion everything should be this easy. It would be a huge under-statement to say that I was impressed. I would go as far as saying that I was astounded by how easy it was to set up and use.
The quality of the pictures produced by the camera is excellent. I do however dislike one thing about the camera. It eats up batteries in about 2 hours, especially if you use the flash.
Overall this is an excellent camera, and I highly reccomend it.
Hewlett Packard's aggressive assault on the digital imaging market continues with the PhotoSmart 215, an easy to use digital camera that offers good quality in a small package. HP Photosmart 215 digital camera takes high-quality photos and allows immediate viewing on the camera or on a computer. It is possible to transfer photos to the computer for use in creative projects or to share photos with friends, family, or business associates on the Internet, via email, or by disk. The cameras come with software for editing, storing, and printing the photos. Transferring and printing one or more photos at a time is possible depending on the capabilities of the printer. First-time digital camera buyers will appreciate the extensive features for taking great photos and for maximum enjoyment with them immediately, included with the affordable Photosmart 215. Additional ease-of-use features offered with the new camera include auto flash, auto focus and exposure, and a self-timer. Operating at 1.3-megapixel image resolution, Photosmart 215 has a 2x zoom and an easy-to-figure out software interface to dump your photos onto your PC hard drive. You just point and click to take photos and, using the 1.8-inch LCD monitor, you can immediately take a look at what you've shot and, if you don't like what you see, delete it to free up memory. The camera features point and shoot user interface, real image viewfinder, and automatic white balance. Speaking of memory, Photosmart 215 comes with a removable, reusable CompactFlash card that, depending upon the resolution at which you're shooting, can hold up to 80 shots. Using the LCD to change settings is also very easy. It's menu-driven and in plain language. An autoflash feature activates automatically, and it does a good job of not inflicting "red eye" on your subjects. The software lets you index your photos and create photo layouts, if such is your desire. It's intuitive and very easy to use.
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