HOT HOT HOT...HP 215 photosmart camera for 99.99 COMPUSA B&M

[Snyder81]

I own a C200 and now a Sony Cybershot DSC-S30 from the Office Depot deal, and I would have to say, do not buy a C200 if you get a chance. I haven't seen the C215, but I think I'd pass on HP cameras and maybe look into spending a little more to get a lot more. Just my 2 cents.

 

[jrichrds]

Looking at the original retail prices of the HP and Sony models, those two weren't meant to compete with each other anyways.

 

[Bugs66]

Don't waste your money on expensive digital cameras. Wait for the digital camcorders and cameras to merge completely, then buy one of those. This HP 215 is a perfect stop gap. I love mine!

 

[HappyFace]

I just got back from CompUSA - got the hp 215 AND a 32mb card for $151.55 with sales tax! That means I'm getting the camera, and 32mb card for a grand total of 111.55 after rebate!!! The girl was really nice, and offered me the free 32meg card without my asking. I was totally content with buying the 16mb card seperately for $20 after rebate... but the free 32mb card made the deal that much better!

Does anyone know where I can get a good deal on a USB hub and hp 215 AC adaptor?

 

[tran1981]

i just got back from Santa Clara Compusa and I got the hp215 as a substitude and a free 32meg compactflash and some free cd. Hot deal. Nice find.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Happyface - check Onvia for the USB hub. Do a search for "4 port USB hub" and you should see a couple of values in the low $20 range with free shipping. I'm looking for a deal myself on the AC adapter. Anyone know of any stellar deals for the adapter?

 

[HappyFace]

Thanks Doobie! I'll check it out. The girl at CompUSA said that any generic adaptor should work, as long as it's at the voltage the camera needs. I'm looking at the manual.. looks like the 215 uses a 6 volt adaptor.

/me leaves to find a good price on a generic 6 volt adaptor

 

[KhakiBoy]

I work at Best Buy and after work I ran down to my local Comp to see if they were doing the substitution and they were. I then went back to Best Buy and had them price match it for $140. I don't care about mail-in rebates b/c I always end up spending the money on something else anyways so it's not really like I'm getting it off the camera. I've taken a few pics with it and I think the quality is good. It may not be the best out there but it's good enough for my purposes. When you consider the new webcam/digital camera combos sell for $150 and have no removeable storage I'd say this camera is a good deal.

 

[amdskip]

Anybody wanna sell one?

 

[HappyFace]

Man... I was thinking about picking up an extra one. Knew there'd be people who missed out on the deal... Should've done it! :|

 

[jrichrds]

If anyone who bought a 215 and didn't get that free 32mb CF is successful in going back and getting the free 32mb cf tomorrow (Sunday), let us know.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Ditto, cuz I was totally unaware of THAT deal and could definitely use the extra storage.

 

[oblivion2888]

too many silicon valley peepz here.hahah

 

[HappyFace]

Well, been testing out the camera... it seems that everything is off center when I use the viewfinder. :| I'll center something, and the picture ends up having the item waaaaaaaay off center. That's odd....

 

[OutlawWolf]

My local Compusa were sold out of hp 210 but they didn't want to substitute with the hp 215. Manager is an ahole, answers me very brief, impolite, walks away. :|

Is this a national sale, substitution game plan?
If it is then I have something to complain to their corporate about.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey Outlaw, the way I heard it is that it WAS a national deal and CompUSA HQ apparently ok'd the substitution for stores that were out of stock on the HP 200. If they were out of stock on the 200, they definitely should have given you the 215 at the discounted price. I got this info from the person I initially talked to at CompUSA, who was surprisingly very helpful.

 

[polotek147]

Is this a good camera, I'm debating whether I should get this camera or the Kodak PalmPix for my Palm. Any insights?

 

[jrichrds]

It ain't no Olympus, but it's gotta be better than the PalmPix at least.

 

[jrichrds]

Has anyone out there been able to get this camera to work in Win2k?

I get this message after I install the driver:
This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed. (Code 24)

When I check driver details under device manager, it says that c:\WINNT\INF\PS215.INF is not present even though it's there. Don't know what's up with that.

Would be grateful if someone more experienced can resolve this issue for me.

 

[DongTran]

good price for a good camera

 

[fornax]

Amdskip, YHPM.

 

[fornax]

I played with my camera yesterday, as everybody else, I guess One big minus: the software and drivers that came with it are crap. On HP's web site there is a HP215 forum, a lot of people complaining too.
On first installation, it ruined my registry (Win98SE). I couldn't make it work by installing only the drivers -- I had to install at least one of ArcSoft's programs, which I don't like. It seems that whenever the camera is connected to the computer, it will attempt to start PhotoImpression. Another minus: HP is adamant that you can't use rechargeables in this camera, and it drains the alkaline batteries very quickly (20 pics or so). If your image is off-center, use the LCD to preview and center -- works well, especially in macro mode. But overall, this was a very hot deal for a good camera -- thanks jcmorris2!!

 

[jrichrds]

What I did was get the Lexar USB-enabled 4x 16MB 4x CompactFlash w/ Jumpshot cable at CompUSA for $20 after rebate. When I'm done taking pix, I just take the CompactFlash out and plug it into the Jumpshot cable, and it shows up as a removable drive in Windows Explorer.
Besides the fact that the HP driver doesn't even install correctly on my Win2k computer, I figure this'll save battery power since this battery-guzzling camera doesn't take rechargeables.

The camera looks like a plastic toy, and sounds like one too cuz the battery rattles when you shake the camera. But the picture quality is definitely good for a $99 camera. You can get better picture quality in more expensive 1.3megapixel cameras (like the Olympus D-360L, perhaps the best 1.3MP cam), but as far as anything $150 and under, this is pretty much tops.

 

[samgoody69]

Anyone compare this to Kodak 3200 (appprox $70 after PM and rebate weeks back)?
I heard that Kodak 3200s are more battery friendly....

 

[tran1981]

I used under win2k just fine. Installation went without a hitch. I have no problem at all. The camera is a little big but still a hot deal.