Hewlett Packard Photosmart 720

HP's 720 is a 3.3megapixel camera for under £300. As such it's already pretty good value, and there are plenty of features inside. It comes with a 3x optical zoom and a 4x digital zoom.

One interesting feature is the movie mode button at the top right next to the still capture button. The 720 can handle video resolutions of just 160 x 120 and 20 frames per second.

This button certainly makes taking short video clips very easy, but we did find ourselves pressing it instead of the still capture which became pretty irritating.

The 720 has 16MB of internal memory. It's not hard to fill this up, so there's a Secure Digital memory card slot to the side.

Flash and picture quality settings can be adjusted using buttons at the top, right next to the LCD status screen. The 720 connects to the PC via USB and has a TV out port.

Once connected to a PC, HP's Instantshare software lets you email, store or print images. It's nothing special but makes the process more user friendly. Images were reasonably good, but grainy at times.

The menu system is pretty simple, allowing you to adjust exposure compensation, white balance and ISO ratings.

Disappointingly, we found that the only way to exit this menu system is to click the capture button, which can lead to accidental shots being taken.

The LCD view screen is 1.5in, but not the best quality. In its defence it is very responsive, but we found it gave a very pixellated image.

It's not a camera without faults. It's uncomfortably chunky and, while the black rubber casing that surrounds its body did mean it was easy to grip, looks wise it wasn't to our liking.

Specifications:

• 2,140 x 1,560 max resolution
• 3x optical, 4x digital zoom
• 34-102mm focal length (35mm equivalent)
• Red eye, auto, on, off flash modes
• 1.5in LCD screen
• USB connection
• Dimensions: 118mm x 75mm x 53mm (w x d x h)
• Weight: 266g without AA batteries

Price: £299 (£254.47 ex VAT)

Contact: Hewlett Packard 08705 474 747
www.thenewhp.com

See also:

Kodak CX4230

The 2megapixel CX4230 is easy to use and takes great pictures.  08 Nov 2002

Kodak EasyShare DX4900 Zoom

Kodak's four-megapixel digital camera is awkward to use but it takes great snaps.  03 Oct 2002

Pentax Optio 230

Feature-packed with a good image quality.  05 Sep 2002

Nikon Coolpix 2500

The Coolpix 2500 offers pretty good pictures from a quirky, compact build.  07 Aug 2002

Canon Powershot A40

An entry-level camera that's versatile and easy to use.  22 Jul 2002

HP PhotoSmart 318

Digital photography becomes affordable with this low-cost camera.  07 Mar 2002

Toshiba PDR-M61

Toshiba thought this digital camera would be cheap, easy to use and give good results. It doesn't quite make it.  07 Dec 2001

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