Polaroid PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Creative Kit

Polaroid PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Creative Kit
Manufacturer: Polaroid
Product Type: Photography

Editorial Review:
Product Description
Polaroid PhotoMAX PDC 640 digital camera makes digital photography easy and affordable while delivering outstanding image quality. It has an improved resolution for crisper, more professional looking photographs, point-and-shoot simplicity and all of the features normally associated with much more expensive cameras. The PDC 640's features include a 1.8" LCD monitor/viewfinder, a built-in flash and a self-timer. It has a storage capacity at 640x480 resolution of 12 images in superfine, 24 images in high resolution and 36 images in standard resolution. In 320x240 resolution, the PDC 640 will hold 96 images. Plus, the camera comes with an easy-to-use image-editing software for manipulation, resizing and retouching of images.
Amazon.com Product Description
The Polaroid PDC 640 Creative Kit includes an easy-to-use digital camera and software for image editing and special effects. With a top resolution of 640 by 480, the Polaroid PDC 640 won't give you stunning images, but it's fine if you want to post your photos on the Web or send them via e-mail. The kit is geared toward beginners or even children who want to get started with digital photography. It includes a carrying case, strap, batteries, a removable storage card, and the cables and software to download photos to your PC. Polaroid offers a one-year warranty on this item.

Average customer rating:

Not bad for a second camera, but...
THE BEST LITTLE DIGITAL CAMERA IN THE WORLD !
Great first time camera
Very Good For Beginners But Needs More Resolution
Bad battery life, poor driver support, serial only...

Polaroid PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Creative Kit

Manufacturer: Polaroid
ProductGroup: Photography
Binding: Electronics

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Under 4x Optical Zoom | Digital Cameras | Camera & Photo | Categories | Electronics
Accessories:

SimpleTech STI-CF/128 128MB CompactFlash Card
SimpleTech STI-CF/256 256 MB CompactFlash Card
Viking 32 MB SmartMedia Card (SSFDC3/32)
Energizer E91BP-4 AA Batteries (4-Pack)
SanDisk 32 MB SmartMedia Card

Product Features:

0.3 megapixel sensor is great for emails and posting on the Web
Fixed-focus lens
Included 2 MB SmartMedia card holds 36 images at default resolution
Connects to Macs and PCs via serial port
Uses 4 AA batteries (included)

ASIN: B00000J48G

Amazon.com Product Description

The Polaroid PDC 640 Creative Kit includes an easy-to-use digital camera and software for image editing and special effects. With a top resolution of 640 by 480, the Polaroid PDC 640 won't give you stunning images, but it's fine if you want to post your photos on the Web or send them via e-mail. The kit is geared toward beginners or even children who want to get started with digital photography. It includes a carrying case, strap, batteries, a removable storage card, and the cables and software to download photos to your PC. Polaroid offers a one-year warranty on this item.

Product Description

Polaroid PhotoMAX PDC 640 digital camera makes digital photography easy and affordable while delivering outstanding image quality. It has an improved resolution for crisper, more professional looking photographs, point-and-shoot simplicity and all of the features normally associated with much more expensive cameras. The PDC 640's features include a 1.8" LCD monitor/viewfinder, a built-in flash and a self-timer. It has a storage capacity at 640x480 resolution of 12 images in superfine, 24 images in high resolution and 36 images in standard resolution. In 320x240 resolution, the PDC 640 will hold 96 images. Plus, the camera comes with an easy-to-use image-editing software for manipulation, resizing and retouching of images.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad for a second camera, but..........2003-10-19

This was the second digital camera I picked up, to replace an early one that was fine for the time, but...

The PDC640 takes decent pictures "for the web," as others have said. If that, and simple needs, are all you want, great. Do yourself a favor, though, and pick up a USB media card reader. The software and serial cable are not supported under WinXP, or on a Mac - but the images are stored on the card as .jpg files, readable anywhere. The USB reader will be *many* times faster than the serial cable, as well, and no special software is needed.

If you print the pictures (full page) you'll notice some problems - but if you're to the point of printing pictures, you'll want a higher resoution camera anyway. It also takes a LONG time to charge, and several seconds between shots to recharge. Battery life really depends on what batteries you buy - cheap ones, it'll eat like a kid with candy. Buy decent batteries (or rechargables) and they'll last a long, long time.

When the batteries are ready to go, though (1/4 left in the indicator) the pictures get awfully dark - you can see them get darker and darker. The viewscreen will, of course, eat them faster.

If you need high resolution, zoom, etc. this isn't the camera for you. For quick family pics, though, it's fine.

THE BEST LITTLE DIGITAL CAMERA IN THE WORLD !.......2002-06-12

I BOUGHT MY CAMERA TWO YEARS AGO IN A WALL MART STORE . AT THAT TIME I PAID [money] FOR IT ; I HAVE USED THIS CAM. ALOT I TAKE ALL KINDS OF PICTURES WITH IT . I LOVE IT ; I HAVE TWO FRIENDS THAT BOUGHT THE SAME CAM. AFTER THEY SEEN PICTURES I HAD TOOK WITH IT; NOW I AM E-MAILING YOUR ADD. TO ANOTHER FRIEND WHO IS GOING TO BUY ONE. (I SHOULD BE A SALES LADY FOR YOU )LOL
I HAVE THREE MEMORY CARDS AND I KEEP ONE IN MY CAM. ALL OF THE TIME; A VERY GOOD CAM. AT A VERY LOW PRICE;
KATHY

Great first time camera.......2002-06-10

I bought this camera a few months ago and love it. It takes great pictures and loads to the PC easily. Only draw back is theres no zoom lens. Take a look at the pictures taken with it in my webshots pages: [website]

Very Good For Beginners But Needs More Resolution.......2002-06-08

I won a Polaroid PDC 640 Creative Kit in a contest. Given its current MSRP, I would not have purchased it due to the limited resolution (640 x 480 pixels). The market is full of digital cameras with better resolution (1-1.5 megapixels) for about the same price.

As ease of use goes, it doesn't get much better than this. You simply put in the batteries, install the SmartMedia card, turn it on, and start clicking away. In order to download the pictures you've taken the software must be installed to your computer. In response to the one reviewer who complained about the software not being compatible with certain editions of Windows, you need merely to go to Polaroids's website and download the patch for Windows 2000 or in my case, Windows XP. It took only a few minutes to download and I was soon up and running.

This camera is fairly intuitive if you have at least a working knowledge of digital cameras. I found myself only having to review the user's manual once, and it is fairly straightforward. The green flash indicator in the viewfinder makes it difficult to frame your shot as one previous reviewer noted, and aside from the limited resolution this is about the only other negative thing I can say about the camera. Although it interfaces with the computer via serial cable as opposed to the much faster USB, I haven't found this to be a major problem. I downloaded 14 pictures to my PC in only about 2-3 minutes just the night before writing this review. Picture quality is fair in the high resolution mode, good in super high resolution mode. I don't recommend using either the medium or low resolution settings.

Lastly, regarding battery life complaints I haven't found the PDC 640 to be any worse than any other digital camera. The kit includes an AC adapter which I highly recommend be used for downloads, which accounts for considerably more battery drain than actual picture taking. The resolution mode you use will also make a difference (higher resolution = more battery use).

If you're looking for an easy to use digital camera the PDC 640 is a very good choice. If you want the highest quality that digital photography has to offer, look elsewhere...but you'll have a slightly more complicated camera.

Bad battery life, poor driver support, serial only..........2002-01-20

I got this for Christmas a couple years ago. The first thing I disliked was the battery life -- I'd run out by the New Year. Plus, Polaroid didn't keep up on writing drivers when Windows 2000 came out (though there is Linux/FreeBSD support via gPhoto), and the green view-finder light is annoying. Now I have a white iBook and there's basically no hope for compatibility, as my camera only came with a serial cable (not a USB cable). Polaroid's recent Chapter 11 filing probably means I won't get Mac OS X drivers any time soon (though Apple may come through in the next versions of iPhoto). If you work only work on a supported platform and like giving Energizer money, this still isn't the camera for you!

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