I've found HP's information and the review information to be fair and accurate for the most part. Here are some items that haven't been touched on yet.
The 7X digital zoom (not to be confused with the 8X optical zoom) is an overstatement. I shot a picture at this zoom using a tripod and timed shutter release to eliminate any camera jitter. I would expect a decent picture if no additional enlargement was used before printing. As it was, the pixelation was quite evident. I think 3.5 X max digital (28X total) would be a more honest number.
Everyone including HP knows that this camera consumes batteries at a good clip. HP has taken certain measures to minimize power consumption but has also nullified it's efforts in part by doing some silly things. There is an LED to indicate the power is on. It's not all that hard to tell this without an LED. The lens is sticking way out there and the switch is in the on position. All the led does is help drain the battery.
The main display also comes on unnecesarily. It should only come on when the user turns it on, but there are quite a few instances when it comes on anyway. The worst abuse is during image transfers to the PC. It comes on to give transfer status and stays on. You can turn it off, but when there's another message, it comes on again and consumes power until you turn it off. All this is silly, because all the details of image transfer are displayed on the PC screen. I wanted to tell this to HP but they don't appear to have a customer suggestion box.
The shutter lag is my biggest complaint. If anything in the picture moves, you won't know what you're getting. I've found it helps keep both eyes open to use my right eye in the view finder. Since the view finder is on the left side of the camera, my left eye gets an unobstructed view of the scene so I can note whether there was unacceptable movement after the viewfinder image freezes for the snap.
None of these things would stop me from buying unless I were to find another brand with the same capabilities without these irritants.
The 7X digital zoom (not to be confused with the 8X optical zoom) is an overstatement. I shot a picture at this zoom using a tripod and timed shutter release to eliminate any camera jitter. I would expect a decent picture if no additional enlargement was used before printing. As it was, the pixelation was quite evident. I think 3.5 X max digital (28X total) would be a more honest number.
Everyone including HP knows that this camera consumes batteries at a good clip. HP has taken certain measures to minimize power consumption but has also nullified it's efforts in part by doing some silly things. There is an LED to indicate the power is on. It's not all that hard to tell this without an LED. The lens is sticking way out there and the switch is in the on position. All the led does is help drain the battery.
The main display also comes on unnecesarily. It should only come on when the user turns it on, but there are quite a few instances when it comes on anyway. The worst abuse is during image transfers to the PC. It comes on to give transfer status and stays on. You can turn it off, but when there's another message, it comes on again and consumes power until you turn it off. All this is silly, because all the details of image transfer are displayed on the PC screen. I wanted to tell this to HP but they don't appear to have a customer suggestion box.
The shutter lag is my biggest complaint. If anything in the picture moves, you won't know what you're getting. I've found it helps keep both eyes open to use my right eye in the view finder. Since the view finder is on the left side of the camera, my left eye gets an unobstructed view of the scene so I can note whether there was unacceptable movement after the viewfinder image freezes for the snap.
None of these things would stop me from buying unless I were to find another brand with the same capabilities without these irritants.