Last week I recommended Pure Digital's Flip ($120 to $150), a cool, compact camcorder that could make a worthy Father's Day or graduation gift. This week I've got another portable gadget gift idea for the dad or grad in your life: Hewlett-Packard's new Photosmart R837 ($229) digital camera.
The Photosmart R837's unusual image enhancement features caught my eye. For starters, the compact point-and-shoot camera with a 7.2-megapixel sensor features a Slimming tool. This feature, also available in some earlier Photosmart models, stretches the subject of a photo to give the illusion of "slimming." New to this particular Photosmart are the Pet-Eye Fix, designed to correct the weird eye glow that often appears in photos of animals, and the Touch Up tool, to fade facial imperfections such as crow's feet and acne.
It's a compelling package of features at an attractive price. I've found the camera for as little as $200 online.
What I Like
- Vivid images with good color balance.
- Easy-to-navigate on-screen menus, in large type.
- Thoughtfully designed features. For example, sliding open the lens/flash cover automatically turns the camera on. Sliding the cover closed shuts the camera off.
- You can add tags (such as Holidays, Birthdays, and Family) to image files.
- Great on-screen help. The help system provides clear, helpful, brief tutorials and explanations of camera features you've selected. In some cases, it even provides visual examples. For instance, by viewing thumbnails you can see how changing the ISO speed can affect image quality.
- You get 13 Artistic Effects to apply to your photos. Some are fairly ho-hum, such as Vintage, but others--including Kaleidoscope, Cartoon, and Solarize--are fun.
- In my tests, the Pet-Eye Fix did a great job of eliminating the glassy-eyed glare. Take a look at the results on my blog, Traveler 2.0.
What I Dislike
- Images taken in low light were below par. This is true with many inexpensive digital cameras, however.
- The camera records video in VGA quality (640 by 480 resolution), but videos are captured at 24 frames per second. This relatively low frame rate--most camcorders record at 30 fps--can make videos a bit jerky, particularly during action scenes. Worth noting: The sound for video clips that I recorded with the camera was inaudible when I played the clips in Windows Media Player on my Vista desktop. However, I had no such problems when playing the clips on my Windows XP laptop.
- To conserve battery power, the camera goes to sleep after 30 to 60 seconds of disuse; you can change this using the Camera Setup menu. Once the camera's asleep, you must slide the flash/lens cover up and down to restart it--which can be inconvenient when you want to quickly snap a photo. An HP spokesperson says this helps reduce battery drain by preventing the camera from being turned back on accidentally--while in a pocket, say.
- The 3-inch LCD isn't easily viewed in bright sunlight, even when the display's brightness is set on high. You're more likely to see fingerprints and smudges than the fine details of the image you're trying to frame. This is a common problem with many LCDs. Also, like many pocket digicams, the R837 lacks an optical viewfinder--forcing you to rely on the LCD to frame your picture.
- The Slimming feature works well enough, but the effect is fairly subtle; it really just elongates the subject. The Touch Up tool does enhance a person's appearance, but you can get the same results with most computer image-editing software.
Who's It For?
With its clear on-screen help, easy-to-use features, and affordable price, the Photosmart R837 would make a good gift for first-time or inexperienced digital photographers.
Mobile Computing News, Reviews, & Tips
Wi-Fi BlackBerry Due This Year: Research In Motion plans to sell a Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry later this year. As of this writing, the company hadn't provided specific details on the planned device. The upcoming BlackBerry won't be the first mobile phone to combine Wi-Fi and cellular connections; both Motorola and Nokia offer such phones.
Your Cell Phone Knows the Way: In a recent PC World article, Dennis O'Reilly reports on the increasing array of navigational services available on cell phones. For example, wireless carriers such as Sprint offer cell phone navigation services for about $10 per month, and you can use Verizon's VZ Navigator on an as-needed basis for $3 per day.
Tiny Sony VAIO: The Sony VAIO Micro PC VGN-UX390N squeezes a notebook PC into a device roughly the size of a BlackBerry. For the most part, the expensive ($2500) device works well, though the 4.5-inch display is too small for comfortable viewing and the tiny keyboard makes typos a certainty.
Suggestion Box
Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.
Contributing Editor James A. Martin offers tools, tips, and product recommendations to help you make the most of computing on the go. Martin is also author of the Traveler 2.0 blog. Sign up to have the Mobile Computing Newsletter e-mailed to you each week.
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