HP Photosmart 812XI

WHAT'S HOT: At $499, HP's Photosmart 812 is one of the first 4-megapixel cameras to break the $500 barrier. Greatly simplifying the process of getting your prints from the camera, HP includes a docking station from which you can upload your photos to a computer, print them directly to a printer, or view them on a TV set. Once you've set up the included driver and the ACDSee image editor on your computer, you merely hit a button on the docking station to launch the software and upload your photos. An easily accessible button on the back of the camera permits digital print order format (DPOF) printing; you can set up your print order in the camera, place the camera on the docking station, and then hit the button to send your photos directly to a printer in the order you've set.

WHAT'S NOT: The Photosmart 812's rechargeable AA batteries had the shortest life of any in our current batch of cameras: They lasted only 73 shots before dying.

The Photosmart 812 has no manual exposure settings, and buttons on the camera body provide access to almost all of its settings and controls. This should make the camera easy to use, but unfortunately HP opted for unconventional and unintuitive button placement. Instead of grouping the recording and viewing functions together, as many cameras do, the HP groups record mode, self timer, and movie mode together on the top of the camera next to the shutter button, while playback mode is a button on the back of the camera next to the LCD panel. Considering how frequently most people switch between taking shots and viewing them, it would be more convenient to place those buttons together. Though a shot appears on the LCD for several seconds immediately after it's taken, most people will want to toggle between shooting and viewing. (A related gripe: The playback button is cryptically labeled "OK" and doubles as a select button for navigating the menus, which is quite confusing.) It won't take long to get used to the Photosmart 812, especially given its limited settings and controls, but we found the layout unnecessarily confusing.

WHAT ELSE: Colors in the blue sky of our outdoor shot and in our mannequin's dress looked rich and realistic. Though the Photosmart 812 generally captured detail well, patterns in our still life and parts of our mannequin's face showed some fuzziness.

HP includes a small manual in booklet form that contains camera operating instructions, a few troubleshooting tips, and an index. An illustrated setup poster for connecting the camera and docking station to your computer is also included.

UPSHOT: With awkward controls and short battery life, this isn't the best camera to take on vacation. But the high pixel count supports nicely detailed photos, and the docking station makes sharing your snapshots easy.

SUMMARY

HP Photosmart 812 3.92 megapixels, 2272 by 1712 maximum resolution, 37-111mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f2.6-f9 aperture range, shutter speeds from 12 seconds to 1/2000 second, optical and LCD viewfinders, USB and video connections, 16MB MultiMedia Card media, two AA batteries, 8.7 ounces with batteries, ACDSee, ArcSoft Photo Impression, ArcSoft Funhouse software. One-year parts and labor warranty, toll-free support for 16 hours on weekdays, plus Saturday. $499 800/752-0900 www.photosmart.com