Kodak DX4900

Opinion: I bought the Kodak DX4900 primarily because of its low price tag. It is (as far as I know) the most affordable 4 mega pixel camera available as of April 2002. No (technical) review was available before my purchase so I just took a chance, and I am relieved to say that I am generally impressed with image quality. Vivid, accurate color and good sharpness and resolution - edge to edge. Some manual controls too (which I had always thought a good thing, more on this later).
One, relatively minor, disappointment is the presence of moire patterns in areas of repeating fine detail. Not glaring, but noticeable none the less. Construction is what one might expect at this price point for a 4 mega pixel model - plastic! albeit with a "sturdy" feel (I know this is an oxymoron).
The optical viewfinder is quite excellent, and I speak critically here being an eyeglass wearer. The full sharp field will be clearly visible to most like me. I generally don't even rely on the LCD except for macro or critical composition work. On the subject of manual control... the DX4900 does very well in Auto thank-you. Rarely have I find the need to take things into my own hands. I have found that the manual Sharpen control has neglible affect on the image. Maximum jpg file size comes in at around 1.5 MB so compression artifacts are relatively minor.
I think I'll be happy for a little while. It will have to be "babied" of course because of its plastic construction, but that veneer belies its true imaging ability, which is, I maintain - quite nice!

Opinion: I initially bought the 3900/dock at Sam's for around $400. I took it back. I really didn't have a need for the dock. So for the same bucks I got the 4900. This camera takes very awesome pictures...very clear and high quality. I previously had a DC260 and all the Tiffen lenses for it. To my delight, I picked up a little screw-on lense adapter and can now use all the same lense with this 4900. Overall I am happy with it. It was CONSIDERABLE less in price than my DC260 was.

Opinion: I bought this camera on the recommendation of a salesperson at Best Buy near my house. I was a little leery at 1st, but decided to take the plunge. I reluctantly decided to get the extended warranty due to my paranoia with technology. I felt more comfortable with him when he told me off the record he doesn't get any bonus for it (I pressed him), but his boss and bosses boss gets stipend for the extended warranties.

Bought at Best Buy under 12 month same as cash (ie 12 interest free payments, not cash deferred - lump sum at end), missed the 18 month payment plan - DARN! So, I can pay this off in no time, 12 moths or sooner, or make a minimum payment when cash it tight that month

The camera was fairly simple to use and setup (I actually glazed over sections of the manual!) and it was straight foward. It comes with a 16 meg compact flash. I set the camera up for 4MP compressed which gives me 24 shots. Regular 4MP would have given me 16 shots. The pics came out very clear. Transferring from the cradle base to Windows XP was as easy as pushing 1 button and click an arrow -very fast transfer too! Recharging the camera was a snap - literally, put it in the cradle and BAM.

In the past I heard horror stories that the cradle didn't charge the battery very well. The salesman acknowledged this problem and said it was corrected in the DX4900. Bummer that the cradle is sold a la carte, but I think it's worth it. BTW -the promo I bought under through in a $60 USB-reader which is nice I guess - hey free, don't have to lug around the cradle!

Don't know what else to say but, I didn't think I'd spend that much money: no regrets.

Opinion: Just an amazing camera for the money !! I just picked one up for $ 600 (CDN) and the quality of the images blows you away !! I had to take the unit back a day later only because it had a non-working pixel on the LCD monitor. I got it exchanged without the box or anything, with no hazzles. Getting the docking station is a must, unless you are using rechargeable batteries. There is no way to charge the battery that comes with the camera unless you have the docking station. I did purchase a couple of rechargeable AA batteries and recharger to keep around in case I'm in a pinch. I recommend using at least 1600mah to 1800mah rechargeable batteries. I also purchased a 128MB flash card, since you can only fit 12 images on the 16mb card using the highest quality, only 24 images using the 4.0MP in compressed mode. If you are considering a digital camera, I would recommend looking at one of these you won't be let down, I wasn't !!