HP Photosmart 612XI Digital Camera 2.31mp Resolution 2x Zoom 8mb

WHAT'S HOT: The Photosmart 612 is an inexpensive, simple point-and-shoot camera. It's very easy to use, with most of its settings and functions easily accessible via three buttons on top of the camera, next to the shutter button. One sets the basic flash settings (including a red-eye mode), another sets the self-timer, and the third selects one of the three compression levels. A small LCD panel shows the compression (indicated with one, two, and three stars), the flash mode, and the self-timer status.

WHAT'S NOT: The silver-and-black plastic camera has a cheap feel, though it's light enough to snap photos with one hand (its curved right edge makes it even easier). You can frame a picture through the viewfinder or the LCD panel on the pack of the camera, but the images in the LCD are slow and jerky. The shutter button is also very slow to react.

We were also unimpressed with the 2.31-megapixel Photosmart 612's print quality. Our printed test photos looked grainy and dark, and they didn't reproduce details well. The colors on our test mannequin looked somewhat dark and muddy, though acceptable.

WHAT ELSE: By pressing and scrolling a thumbwheel, you can move through the menu to set the Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) for easily printing a particular number of photos. To set the DPOF, scroll through the saved images, click the center of the thumbwheel to choose the photo to print, then scroll again to choose between 1 and 100 prints.

Using the menu, you can also delete a photo, magnify an image, and set the date and time. The menus are simple and easy to navigate, marked with icons and text, and most are just two levels deep. Move a rocker switch on the back of the camera to the right or left to zoom in or out up to 2X optically. If you toggle twice to the right, the camera digitally zooms another 2X.

Battery life was about average, taking a total of 259 shots on four AA batteries. The Photosmart 612 takes CompactFlash cards, though HP doesn't bundle a card with the camera; instead, it comes with 8MB of internal memory.

HP's software bundle includes a simple driver for uploading, viewing, printing, and sharing photos. It also includes ArcSoft's Photo Fantasy, a fun but limited tool that lets you import your own photos into a number of templates and background images, such as trading cards and old-fashioned settings.

UPSHOT: This inexpensive point-and-shoot camera is easy for novices to use, but it lacks flexibility and good print quality.

SUMMARY

HP Photosmart 612 2.31 megapixels, 1800 by 1200 maximum resolution, 36mm-68mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f3.3-f10.6 aperture range, shutter speeds from 1/4 second to 1/700 second, optical and LCD viewfinders, USB and video connections, 8MB internal memory, four AA batteries, 10.2 ounces with batteries, HP Share-to-Web, ArcSoft PhotoImpression, ArcSoft PhotoFantasy software. One-year parts and labor warranty, toll-call support for 16 hours on weekdays and Saturday. $299 800/752-0900 www.photosmart.com