Gateway DC-M42 Digital Camera

Pros: Price tag, feature set
Cons: Lack of manual focus, battery life

Having fun taking impromptu pictures with the H andspring Treo 600 PDA/Phone, trying to print them out later on my C anon i900D photo printer proved an ugly experience. The 640x480 ...

Pros: Inexpensive (av. $90.00 now). Zoom. Uses AA batteries.
Cons: Poor build quality. No thumb rest. Lacks basic features (beeps, etc).

Intro: With all the talk of Sony, Canon, Fuji, Olympus, Nikon, and the other major camera players today, you usually don't think of Gateway. This is Gateway the computer makers I'm talking about, who a while ago, decided to get into other product ...

Pros: Inexpensive, generally takes nice pictures
Cons: Not very sturdy, difficult to obtain recommended accessories, worthless customer service.

I bought this camera on sale for $99, then read the reviews very soon after and started having regrets. But for what I paid, the camera has worked pretty well. Many reviews refer to battery power issues. I have been able to take more than 30 pictures ...

Pros: compact, easy to use, built to last
Cons: needs lithium batteries, slow to take pictures

This is a pretty simple camera that my husband bought me about three years ago. He got himself a bigger one with more features for his job and for us, but I found it just too much camera for me. On top of that, it took it's small videos in Quicktime ...

Pros: Looks like a real camera. Other than that, no pros at all.
Cons: Does not function. Terrible to non-existent customer service. Will not honor the warranty.

I would have done better to purchase a toy camera. The pictures it took would have been about the same and it would have saved me the aggravation and time trying to get help and repair service from Gateway. This was my second digital camera purchase ...

Pros: Cheap, MPEG Movie mode, Good Value
Cons: Poor: Battery Life Memory Card Write Speed Image Quality

I bought this camera at Best Buy. I thought it was a great deal, as I only paid 100 dollars for it. It states to be a 4.0 megapixel camera, however this is not true. With the exception of photos in the brightest light, All my photos became pixelated if ...

Pros: You can order by phone.
Cons: Lousy pictures, terrible customer service, 15% restocking fee, they fail to mention.

Gateway's misrepresented so called 4.1 Megapixel, DC-M42 Digital Camera takes terrible, blurry, yellow pictures. Then they charge you 15% restocking fee to return. Quite a racket. Called an order in by phone, was told I had 15 days to review the camera, ...

Pros: Very simple to use, stylish camera body
Cons: The shutter can be a little slow

I've had this camera for years and have never been disappointed. It still takes great, clear pictures, the zoom is adequate and it's really easy to use. True, the viewer is on the smallish size (LCD screens have gotten much larger) but if you want an inexpensive camera to get introduced to digital photography, this is perfect. It feels ruggedly built and has performed well over the years. I've never had a problem with batteries but I use the rechargeable batteries or Energizer lithium batteries. I can easily take around 60-70 pix with the batteries (probably more). I do have the complete kit with tripod, rechargeable batteries and I do connect it to the wall outlet when downloading pix to preserve battery life. THe only thing I don't like is that it's not the best for taking action shots. Newer cameras may be better at this but it is a 4 yr old camera.

Pros: Sharp, crisp, clear pictures, ease of use (in automatic mode)
Cons: BATTERY LIFE!!! Slow image capture. Regular AA batteries will only take 2-5 pics!

This is a good camera for web publishing, or maybe taking pictures of an item you plan to sale on E-Bay. This is not the camera to depend on to save those cherished memories, such as vacation, wedding, or graduation. It takes good quality pictures, but the capture speed is too slow, almost in reverse.
My wife and I have taken it on 3 different vacations and found ourselves charging 4 batteries at a time trying to keep up with dead ones. Eventually we had to get an inverter to plug the AC adapter into the cigarette lighter.
Goofy concept while touring the country.
I would only recommend this camera if you have found a good deal and have a large supply of rechargeable batteries.

This camera was purchased over 2 years ago, I understand the price has dropped considerably.

Pros: Great for outdoor shots, amazing resolution and colors.
Cons: Indoor shots are not so good .. a bit dark in my opinion.

I bought this model over two years ago and it still takes great pictures ... almost as if it was an 8MP camera .. ~tkats http://www.digitalimpact.ca

Pros: There was nothing good about this camera. Sorry, I just can't think of anything.
Cons: Not even a good camera for kids.

At first it was a decent camera to me. I didn't have much money to spend on a camera and I have never had a digital camera before, so what did I know? Now, I see it as the worst camera ever made. You cannot leave batteries in it overnight because it will not work by the next day. It comes with a memory card that will take 15 pictures. You cannot even get to the 10th picture without the batteries dying on you. I mean I have NEVER bought so many batteries in my life. I tried the rechargeable batteries and they are always being recharged. Also, when you go to snap for a picture it takes like 8 seconds for the picture to take. By then most kids move around and you have to start over again. Ugh, this camera was frustrating! You are better off spending more money on another brand like Kodak or Canon. It was a lousy year with this Gateway camera. I basically just wasted my 99$ on a piece of junk. This year I saved all of my money and bought something else. Now I am a satisfied customer at last!!!

Pros: Cheap, takes videos(with good sound), decent quality for the price, and good Customer service.
Cons: Picture Quality, Camera Size, Picture taking speed.

I got it for Christmas in 03. It was $200 when I got it. But now I've found it for cheaper prices. The picture quality wasn't that great. But considering "I" didn't pay for it, that didn't bother me that much.

But the flash went out about 9 months later. I sent it back to Gateway and they replaced my camera completly. The picture quality is better and the flash seems brighter. The picture quality also is better.

A good point is that the camera has taken a beating. I'm young and have taken it to many parties where liquids and drops have taken place often.

Overall it is a good camera for a beginner or someone just looking for a decent camera. Those looking for faster pictures or better quality I would go with others. Preferably a smaller slimmer one.

Pros: None
Cons: A dead battery will corrupt your memory.

I was taking pictures with my DC-M42 and then the battery died. The death of the battery corrupted my SD chip and I lost all of my sentimental pictures. If you have had this problem e-mail me at raydigiacomo@hotmail.com and I will tell you how to fix the problem.

Pros: Easy to use, acceptable photo quality
Cons: Batteries!!!!

I bought this camera 2 years ago as my first digital camera. I've had friends tell me that I must have gotten a defective unit, because the batteries burn out so quickly - but reading through the reviews (which I dearly wish I'd done sooner!), I find that this has been the typical experience with this unit. Don't get me wrong, it takes very adequate photos - and it came with a kit that included the USB cable and an AC/DC adapter - so it's actually useful if you are using it to take photos around the house to upload to an auction site, or website, or something like that. But don't rely on it as your only camera for a vacation... we took it to a Major League baseball game this month, and it didn't make it through the first inning! I've probably spent as much on AA batteries and replacing lost rechargables as I did on the camera to begin with!

Pros: Easy to use, decent quality pictures.
Cons: EXTREMELY HORRIBLE battery life. Bad focus. Bad memory.

My first digital camera and my last Gateway digital camera. Pictures are pretty good quality and the camera is very easy to use (a 10-yr old could use it). It was a gift to me, so I don't know how much it cost when I got it (two years ago), but it isn't worth much. Camera says "card full" when it isn't. The battery-life is horrible. I can take about 10 pictures if I do it quickly on a fully charged battery and without turning it off and on (I have used other cameras and taken 120 pictures with charge left). Basically, I wouldn't recommend this camera to an enemy. Have to reset the date/time every time you open the battery compartment (no backup).