Problems, problems, problems.
Written: Sep 27 '00 (Updated Oct 12 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: inexpensive, compact, and looks cool
Cons: bad picture quality/ battery drainage issue
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| syounker's Full Review: Agfa ePhoto Smile Digital Camera |
When I decided to purchase this product I was drawn to it's inexpensive price. I also liked the fact that it had a serial port connection. I have an older computer and it doesn't have a USB port. I also liked the compact design and cool colors.
After the first use I realized what a mistake I had made. I tried to use it inside and the pictures were very dark and grainy. When I use the flash inside it just made the pictures look like a big white light with a grainy background. Next I tried to use it outside and the pictures were still grainy. If I used the flash outside I had the same result as pictures inside with the flash. I was able to clean up some of the pictures that I took outside by using the photowise software, but won't print them because they are still a little too blurry.
After the third time that I downloaded the pictures to my computer I started having problems with it not downloading and draining batteries. I found a patch at the Agfa site and at least it solved the downloading problem.
After each use of the camera and downloading the 10 or so pictures to my computer I would have to replace the batteries. I thought this was weird so I consulted the online help at their website. The tech. support FAQ had no information on this so I sent an email to tech. support and they responded within 1 day. They told me to use Duracell Ultra batteries or the equivalent. I did this and it seems to have solved that problem. 34 pictures taken, 3 downloads to my computer and still the same pair of batteries.
The software that comes with the camera is acceptable, but doesn't offer much consolation to the bad picture quality and battery draining issue. The software offers several ways to clean up your pictures. You can adjust it by clicking on different tabs like contrast, sharpness and brightness. These options do help, but not enough to make even 10% of the pictures I've taken useable.
It is possible that I am not using it completely correctly or that I need a tripod, but with the experiences I have had so far I doubt it.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
syounker
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Member: Shannon Younker
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 4 members
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