Not recommended for any user, the PDC 640 is a very basic digital camera that is easily surpassed by just about every other camera out there.

I received this camera as a gift for Christmas and began to use it fairly regularly afterwards. I had returned it on February 11th because of problems with the LCD display and the fact that you couldn't see the picture anymore.

Picture Quality

The picture quality (640x480 - no megapixel rating given) on the camera is good enough for web pages and e-mail, but does not produce quality prints. For anyone looking for a camera to print pictures from, this is not your camera.

Camera Use

I found the use of the LCD display on the camera awkward and clunky. There were no easy ways to get the images to load up on the display (no on/off switch), the images would often flicker and the display would often turn itself off while you were trying to navigate the menus. Within a month of fairly active use, the LCD display image began to degrade and breakup. I returned the camera because I was unable to see the images on the LCD display. They would be full of lines and would be all garbled on the display.

In addition the lack of an auto focus was a major drawback to this camera. Many of my pictures were blurred beyond use because of the need to select one of three different modes (close-up, intermediate, distance). While the image quality was good when the right mode was selected, more often than not I did not think about the mode before I took the picture and later realized that I had been in the wrong mode. In those cases, most of the pictures were lost.

Final Thoughts

I would only recommend this camera for a person who is going to use the images for either the web or in e-mail. The print quality is not high enough to created quality printed images. However, the awkward controls on the LCD display and the need to choose distance modes would make me wonder if I should recommend this to anyone.

If I you were thinking about buying it, I would take it out of the box and try it for yourself.


Recommended: No