SiPix StyleCam Deluxe

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Poor
Range & Quality of Features	Diverse
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Durability	Good
Overall Look & Design	Excellent
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Compact, Affordable, Easy to use
Disadvantages:	Useless in low lit areas

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I first purchased this digital camera last year as it was on sale and it seemed like a great bargain, afterall this camera is 3 things all in 1 - a digital camera, a pc web camera, a camcorder with built-in microphone!

However, to my disappointment it didn't quite meet my expectations...

Firstly it is practically unuseable if you are in a low lit area (although I wouldn't consider a room with a 100 Watt bulb as being " low lit ")! Pictures appear grey and often come out blurry (even with the flash) and don't even attempt to record video footage as all you get is very dark, dull, blurry images and the sound quality is far from perfect.

Secondly the battery life isn't great, which can cause real problems if you are out taking pictures in the middle of nowhere with no PC handy to safe over your images before the battery dies and the photos are deleted. However, this is usually the case with most low-end digital cameras which have built in memory rather than memory cards. But luckily the camera does work in a way which helps you overcome this problem (to a point), so if your batteries die you can change them immediately for some new batteries and your photos will still be safe. Although, the problem with this is the fact that you only have 1 min to change the batteries or all is lost! Not great when you don't happen to have a spare set of batteries to hand.

And thirdly, this camera has to offer you the worst web camera I have EVER used before!!! No matter when I tried to use it - wither it be 1st thing on a sunny morning or late at night with my 100 watt bulbs burning brightly - i could never seem to get a decent image. Everything appeared so dark and the refresh rate was terribly slow making your movements on cam appear very jerky. Although this camera is advertised as having excellent video conferencing capabilites I can assure you from experience that it has nothing of the sort!

Ok, now that all the BAD stuff is out of the way I can concentrate on the good stuff and this camera does have alot of good points -

its very easy to use and has a built in flash. When you are taking pictures on a nice sunny day you can be assured that the images will come out nice and bright and clear - the camera has 1.3 mega pixels which does offer a good quality photo (when the lighting is good enough). It is very small and compact which is great for popping into your handbag or your pocket to take with you where ever you go and is a very affordable price and would be best suited for beginners. It is also great fun using the video function to record you and your friends fooling around or something special like your child's first steps and all at a great price! You can also choose what resolution and size you would like your pictures to be in order to get the best quality possible. And as with most cameras today, this digital camera has a 10 second self timer which allows you to take pictures with you as the user in them too!

So therefore, after considering everything - both the good points and the bad I would have to say that this camera definately wont be to everyones tastes (it certainly didnt appeal to me). But it is very handy and would vbe perfect to someone who is just starting to use digital cameras as this is very easy to use. However, to get the best possible quality from the camera you MUST use it in very bright areas or outside on a sunny day as this camera is appallingly bad in dimmer areas.

So.. the choice is yours!