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Which budget digital cam to buy?

D

d1abolic

Banned
Me and my parents want to go halfsies on a digital cam. Not sure how much to spend though. Probably around 100, unless that's a waste of money. I just need it to take pictures of my home theater, they need it for baby pictures. I don't think we need anything really good, just decent will do. Picture size? 640x480 would probably do. It's the quality that matters more. Anyway, what do you guys think? How much should we spend - with about $175 being the limit.
 
Oh and BTW, do they all come with USP hookups? I mean, how else would i transfer the images to the PC? Unless it uses floppy storage, but i think that blows right?
 
Damn that HP cam looks like one hell of a deal.

Update: According to the reviews, picture quality is crap. Damn i'd rather have good 640x480 than sucky 1600x1200 or whatever.
 


<< Oh and BTW, do they all come with USP hookups? I mean, how else would i transfer the images to the PC? Unless it uses floppy storage, but i think that blows right? >>



Most digital cameras come with USB, I would not buy a digital camera without USB. USB sucks though because you're sucking up major battery power while transferring picts from your digicam to PC. You should buy a USB Card Reader which shows up just like another drive on your PC. You're also going to need to spend $25 - $50 on some quality rechargeable batteries, trust me on this because digicams eat through alkaline batteries like crazy.

If I were you, here's what I would get:

$100 Fuji Finepix 1400 one of the best entry level 1.3 Megapixel digital cameras has a viewfinder, optical zoom (I think), USB and takes great pictures. Waaaaaaaaay better than a 640x480 digital camera. There's plenty of these for under $100 on eBay or on our very own FS/FT forums.
$35 1600 mAH rechargeable batteries with 3hr charger and car adapter
$20 PNY SmartMedia USB card reader
===========================================================
$155 for a very nice setup
 


<< Hey is that still alive? >>



No. The rebate expired and I don't think Staples offers the HP 315 online anymore 🙁
 


<< Hmm i think i'll grab the cam and get the batteries and stuff locally. Unless i can find a place that sells both. >>



You probably won't find a local place which sells high quality Nexcell 1600 mAH batteries but you could buy both from Newegg.com here (the last one) and here.

Remember some cameras accept SmartMedia (Fuji) and some accept CompactFlash (HP).
 
In the past month, the lowest 1400 sold for on eBay was $135, and i think that was refurbished 😀 Hey, how much memory do they come with?
 
The Fuji Finepix 1400 comes with a scrawny 4MB SmartMedia enough to hold like 20 low res pictures.

Why not order the HP 318 from Staples? HP's do have an issue where they can't read CF cards larger than 32MB but it does come with 8MB CF. So you wouldn't absolutely need a USB card reader but it's $25 well spent. If you have an extra $40 I would buy the 64MB CF from Staples.com which comes with a FREE USB CF READER ($25 value).
 
You could go with an offbrand like Vivitar ($79.95 for a 1.3 megapixel currently), I searched for all 1.3 digicams between $60 - $120 and found 34.
 
I read a few reviews about PhotoSmart 315 and it looks like the picture quality is horrible. Staying as far away from that as possible. The Fuji on the other hand, is pretty strong in that department. Their site has a few sample pictures taken with it, and the quality is impressive.
 


<< I read a few reviews about PhotoSmart 315 and it looks like the picture quality is horrible. Staying as far away from that as possible. The Fuji on the other hand, is pretty strong in that department. Their site has a few sample pictures taken with it, and the quality is impressive. >>



I wouldn't call the HP 315's quality horrible but I'll get a first hand look in a few days after my sister receives her HP 315.

Go for the Fuji Finepix 1400 good luck in finding a good price, everyone I know loves theirs.
 


<< Thanks 😀 I won't be getting the card reader though. I'll get the batteries and a 64mb card instead. >>



You're welcome. Good idea if you get the Fuji Finepix 1400 I don't believe it has difficulty in reading media like the HP does. Make sure to get at least 1600 mAH rechargeable NiMH batteries with a good MAHA charger. I bought 8 Nexcell 1600 mAH's with 3 hour MAHA charger and car adapter for $39.95 from an eBay auction, I can PM you the link?
 
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