Decent for home use, but has low battery life

Author's Rating:

Pros: Image Quality, Compact Size, Easy-to-Use Menu

Cons: Battery Life, Durability, Focus Range, No AC Adapter

The Bottom Line: 
I would opt for a better camera at the price range or shell out the extra cash for a more durable one.

Author's Review
I acquired this camera as a Christmas present in 2002. At first I was extremely excited at finally getting a good camera, as my previous camera was just an Intel webcam. Naturally, it was the first new toy I played with.

First Look
Upon opening the box, the first thing I noticed was the lack of AC adapter for the camera. 'No big deal,' I thought, 'I have my own universal adapter.' Instead of digging it out, I grab a pair of AA batteries to use. Once I'm going, I take about 10-15 pictures with the flash and LCD screen going before they end up completely drained. While changing out the batteries for another pair (which annoyed me), I get bumped by my cousin in his new big wheel, which causes me to drop my precious new camera. It survived the fall except for the front blue plate, which promptly decided to pop off. That was no big deal either, a few drops of super glue and I was once again on my way.

Continued Use
Since then, I've used it a total of about 3-4 times a month to take pictures of various events or on trips. So far the quality is still high. I've been taking care of it, so no more physical problems have arisen. I use it for a webcam mostly, since I hate having to constantly change batteries. That way I'm able to just leave it connected to an AC adapter.

Nitpicks
As you've read above, the battery life rather irks me. I should be able to take many more pictures before having to change batteries. Granted, having a device that is completely electronic tends to draw more power, but if you can have a CD player with a CD spinning constantly for several hours on nothing but two AA batteries, how come this camera can't take more than 15 pictures? There's obviously some power consumption issues with the parts.

Another nitpick would be the construction of the case. The plastic looks a little toyish and can probably easily crack if you dropped it on something such as cement. I know they were going for a portable-sized camera here, but the construction looks a bit more shoddy than it probably should be.

Something else I've noticed recently is the amount of blur in the picture. If you don't have the camera completely still or if you're moving, such as in a car, the image can be blurred heavily. I noticed this when I tried taking surprise pictures of friends. I'd stick the camera out about 4 feet in front of their face and snap the picture, but they'd come out with a weird blurred effect, which still baffles me since I'd have the camera fairly still before hitting the shutter button.

Overall
This camera would probably be fine for a younger person who just wishes to take normal everyday pictures or use it as a webcam. For anyone else who wishes to have a quality camera to take vacationing or to use for long periods of time may wish to opt for a better camera in the price range or pay extra for better quality and battery life. While I'm not complaining since I received the camera as a gift, I wish to let anyone else looking to buy this camera a heads-up on its features and drawbacks.