JediKermit's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart 435 Digital Camera
Right now there are some really cool HP (Hewlett Packard) commercials on tv in high rotation. They feature happy, fun, bouncy music, and innovative visuals, making photographs from moving images...the one you see most is the balding guy at his desk, holding the white frames; as he moves the frames in front of his face, they turn into a photograph. You've seen them, you've enjoyed them.
Don't let them fool you. My biggest case of buyer's remorse in 2004 came because I didn't read online reviews about digital cameras before I bought one, and I ended up buying one from HP. Big Mistake.
I'm new to technology and camera reviews, so bear that in mind--I'm writing this more as a casual user than a professional photographer. I'll include all of the technical information at the end of this review.
We had wanted a digital camera for several years before we got one...all the way back in 2000 when we got married, that's one of the things we were looking at buying, then again in 2002 when our first son was born. But me going back to school full time put the kibosh on technology purchases, and we just couldn't swing it at the time. So finally, in 2004, with some Graduation Day gift money from the in-laws, we thought "we'll finally get our digital camera, and then our family will be complete!" with a second son on the way, it was as good a time as any, and we were excited about our new purchase.
Mistake #1: Buying without reading up on Epinions. I've been reading and writing reviews at Epinions for four years now. You would think that'd be my first stop, that I'd learn my lesson...but no. I went to the store and pointed.
Mistake #2: Not reading the packaging thoroughly to know what exactly I was getting. We'd been using other people's digital cameras, and knew what features we wanted in it...at the time, most we had been playing with were right around 3 megapixels (some as low as 2), and because the Photosmart 435 was 3.1 megapixels, we jumped to the conclusion that it would have everything the others in that same general class had. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And dumb of us not to read the package information fully before making our purchase.
So what kind of problems did I have as a result of my two disastrous mistakes?
1. The biggest problem for my own immediate needs as a photographer is that there's no Macro setting. No way to take pictures of anything closer up than about three feet. One of my many hobbies is photographing toys (it's best not to ask), and after talking to people that said "of course it has a Macro setting--EVERY digital camera has a Macro setting!) I figured I could just pick it up and it would have one. Moron that I am, I bought it, and there's no Macro setting. Incredible. So I thought, okay, that's a dumb hobby anyway, we'll use it as the "family camera"...but there were problems with that too.
2. The beast sucks down batteries like you would NOT believe. After reading that rechargeables give you the longest life, we thought we'd be okay taking four AA batteries with us to a family Fourth of July picnic, and watched as all four batteries were drained (the camera only holds two at a time) before 20 shots were taken. The manual not-so-helpfully suggests leaving the LCD viewer window off at all times, and that will extend your battery life. I'm not sure about most people, but a big part of the appeal of digital cameras is using that little LCD viewscreen on the back of the camera, to more accurately frame your photos and see what kind of picture you just took. Isn't that why it's there? But HP suggests not using it. Ridiculous. Without using the window, we could get about 25 pictures in before the batteries would die a sad death. It kind of takes all of the spontaneity out of those fun commercials when you consider all of those smiling people are sweating about their batteries dying...
3. The picture quality just isn't that good. We've pretty much retired this camera now, and my wife uses it at work for taking about two snapshots a month; looking at the prints she took just this week, there's a noticeable difference between this and our newer digital camera. These are fuzzy, far below the level of traditional cameras, and ridiculous even when compared to cheaper and older digital cameras.
4. There's a significant lag between the time you press the button and the picture is actually taken--and when you've got cute CUTE boys like we do, that can be a pain in the butt. "Smile!" *press button* .....kids stop smiling..... *click* And then you try to get the kids to smile again, and they won't cooperate. Y'all know how it is. Frustrating.
These were the most significant and disappointing things about the HP Photosmart 435 for us. I don't know if I've ever had buyer's remorse quite as acute or sudden as this, and both HP and the store I bought it from said basically "that's how that camera is--sorry!" And reading reviews here, I'm seeing that's been many buyers' experiences with it. So avoid it.
For those of you who understand all the technical stuff, here it is--but you're better off skipping it and buying a different camera.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Sensor 3.1 Megapixel
Size 1/2.7-inch
Digital Zoom 5x
LCD Monitor 1.5-inch TFT
Shutter Speed 1 - 1/1000 sec.
Memory Included 16MB Internal
Storage Media Secure Digital
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 120.00 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
3.1 megapixel sensor captures enough detail to create photo-quality 8 x 10 prints and medium-quality prints up to 11 x 14 5x continuous digital zoom S...More at Amazon Marketplace
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