Yes the battery is rated for 400/600 (1/2 flash, no flash) and I can vouch for that. I've never had a battery die on me. Even on a day when I filled up 768mb of CF. You will find plenty of great reviews everywhere. But this are the negatives that I've experienced:
No flash adjustment. Many times flash overexposes or underexposes shot. I'm not a fan on indoor photography, I believe flash ruins a shot. But then again if I had $$ to spend on a nice flash my opinion would change. I've taken a few hundred pics of antique coins, came out great.
Fixed light metering. Can't choose between spot weighed, center, matrix, average, etc.
Also remember, this isn't a versatile point and shoot camera outdoors in anythign but bright sunlight. Often times I get caught bumping to higher ISO modes because the camera wants to slow down the shutter too much thereby blurring the shots unless I've got a tripod. Ex: My friend's sony dcs-717 has an aperature range of f/2.0 - f/2.6. Most budget(<$500) telephoto zoom lenses have a range from f/3.8 - f/5.6. This means it will let less light in compared to the Sony in the same lighting condition. If you let less light in, you need to keep the shutter open longer. Keeping the shutter open longer means you might need a very steady hand or tripod to get your shot. This is why SLR body cameras can get VERY expensive. A nice telephoto f/2.8 lens will run you over $1k. But then again the problem with a high aperature(f/2.8) is that the depth of field is very shallow. So you win some and you lose some.
Putting all I've learned aside.. but this camera is you are a photography enthusiast and want to move up to the SLR world. If you don't care about interchangable lenses, 6.3mp, noise free ISO 800 shots and a CMOS sensor from the 10d then save your $$.
Hope this helps.
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