WHAT'S HOT: Simple menus and three dedicated buttons make this an uncomplicated camera. The buttons let you rotate through resolution and flash settings quickly, and turn on and off the self-timer and the macro mode without jumping into the camera's menus.

WHAT'S NOT: For a camera that lacks a movie mode, the Toshiba's $300 price tag seems high. Toshiba was somewhat miserly with the camera's media, too: Our PDR-3320 came with an 8MB SmartMedia card, though most 3-megapixel cameras come bundled with at least 16MB media. We do not recommend this camera for people who wear glasses when taking pictures. The rear element of the optical viewfinder is deeply recessed, making it difficult to see the full frame if you don't have the camera right up to your eye.

WHAT ELSE: The images produced by the PDR-3320 in our lab tests were mediocre for the most part, though suitable for snapshots or for the simple photographic documentation that businesses often need. Overall, colors seemed somewhat flat, and whites looked slightly gray. Our photos with flash turned our model's skin a similar, less-than-pleasing shade of clay. On the other hand, the shots were surprisingly sharp for a 3-megapixel camera. Shooting outdoors in bright sun, the camera sometimes produced images marred by solar spots--a problem typically caused by reflections within the lens.

A four-way thumb button makes navigating through the camera's small number of menus options fairly easy, though somewhat imprecise at times. To make a selection, you have to press the thumb button carefully straight down; if you are a bit off-center, the menu cursor may move to another menu option. For a point-and-shoot, the PDR-3320 is relatively chunky. At 4.1-by-2.7-by-2.2 inches and almost 12 ounces, it's too large to fit in anything smaller than overcoat pocket or a medium-size handbag. The camera holds four AA batteries. Unfortunately, we could take only 200 shots on a fresh set of batteries--well below the 337-shot average for the cameras we've tested recently with the same battery capacity.

ACDSee, an easy-to-use, comprehensive image management utility comes bundled with the Toshiba. It's an especially good choice for businesses that need to sort though and categorize loads of digital photos. This is one of the few point-and-shoot digital cameras we've seen that can accept an accessory lens. Toshiba offers a $25 plastic adapter that attaches to the PDR-3320 and accepts 43mm, threaded wide-angle, and 2X telephoto converter lenses from Tiffen (about $95 each).

UPSHOT: With no video recording, the PDR-3320 is a better choice for businesses that want a simple digital camera for photographic records than for home enthusiasts recording important family events.

SUMMARY

Toshiba PDR-3320 3.2 megapixels, 2048 by 1536 maximum resolution, 38mm to 114mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f2.9 to f6.9 aperture range, shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/1000 second, optical and LCD viewfinders, USB and video connections, 8MB SmartMedia media, four AA batteries, 11.7 ounces with batteries; ACDSee software. One-year parts and labor warranty; toll-free support, 12 hours weekdays, for 90 days. $300 800/288-1354 www.dsc.toshiba.com