anyone familiar with the HP Photosmart 720? its the main one im lookin at to buy right now. i found one for under 150 and thats kinda my price range. and 3 megapixels shoudl be pretty good for what i want it for, just casual photography. i was comparing it to the Kodak Easyshare of the same price and similar specs but the HP seemed to have better reviews. and i think that Kodak may have slacked off in the quality area just a little and beefed up the ease-of-use. but thats not what im looking for, i can figure out how to use a digicam and id rather have it take good pictures than be easy to use. once again im rambling. anyone have any opinions of any cameras mentioned thusfar....or add your own. just make sure theyre around the 150 dollar range.

Whatever you get, don't get swayed by the "digital zoom" numbers. Digital zoom translates badly into pics. Spend the extra $$$ for something with optical zoom. I have an HP that is over three years old. It takes great pics, if I dont need to zoom. Otherwise, I just walk up closer if I can. Another thing, dont spend any extra money for a compact flash reader. You can unload the camera fine with the HP software. If you have XP, it will see the camera as a removable drive and you can manually move/copy the pics to your harddrive.

Hoov. You know who I work for? This should have some strong influence on you. For CASUAL photography, that camera is good for the price, and Jay is right about digital zoom. If you can afford it, go with an optical zoom. That'* the #2 most important feature right behind the quality of the CCD.

There is no difference in storage media. One is as good as the other. Bang for the buck, Sony has the best compromise between quality of the CCD, and offerings of Optical zoom. Their optics are fantastic.

If you're ever going to get serious about digital photography, look somewhere other than hp (sorry, Carly), as they're really geared to the first-time casual user, who'* looking to make the transition to digital from film.

I'd really like to see hp break into QUALITY at a competitive price. The printers are the best by far, as are the scanners, but the cameras were left behind.

Look into the A60 (2mp).... the A70'* (3.2mp) & 80'* (4mp) little brother.

Wicked camera... and you can put lenses and filters on it.
Well worth the price!

Konica, my parents have one, more of a quality camera then you're looking for, but if they got something in the 150 range, check it out!

both the Photosmart 720 and Easyshare CX4300 have optical zoom. 2x on the kodak and 3x on the HP. i used to know stuff about digital cameras but refresh my memory. whats CCD mean?

im tryin to compare the CCD stuff on pricegrabber but not all the info is there.

go here to have a look for yourselves http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_c...d+Products.y=8

im still leaning toward the HP.just kind of a gut feeling i guess. and id like to get somethin higher quality like a Sony or somethin. but the cheapest Sony one i could find was almost 200. and thats quite a bit to plop down on a 3 megapixel cam. of course so is 150. thanks for the info that will soon follow

oh yeah and what kind of battery it has means nothing to me, in fact id rather have the ones that run off of AA, that way if you run out at home and need to take a pic of something you can start robbin remotes and cd players and stuff

HP'* usually take AA batteries, but will eat them like candy if you dont get an AC adapter.

I assume you've gone thru this site....

http://www.dpreview.com/

Here'* a link to a review with sample pictures from the HP 720 http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/hp720.html
It sounds like a good camera for $150 and it has a 3x optical zoom. Be sure to buy a set of rechargeable batteries.

those pics are really too bad. id say theyre better than quite a few film cameras. but thats what i want, is something i can take pictures with and share them with ppl. but not be weighed down with film and junk like that. and the expense of paying for developing. and if i dont like a picture i can just delete it.thanks for all the help and suggestions.ill read that review tomorrow at school. im goin to bed now. but when summer rolls around and the money starts rakin in, that could very well be the cam for me. and all yall will be victims of whorage