Ive been looking around for a digital camera for a couple of weeks now, but I am still unsure about which camera is better, the PDR-M1, or the HP C20. I have seen the PDR-M1 in stores for $400, and the C20 for $300, and was wondering whether or not the PDR-M1 was worth the extra money. Any comments would be appreciated.

-- (georgep12@aol.com), October 22, 1998

Answers

You'll ultimately have to answer that question yourself, but here's some input: The C20 has a bit simpler interface and fewer controls, so would be more "friendly" for a beginner. It also takes pictures in lower light (albeit with a very long exposure time), and has (in my opinion) a bit stronger auto white balance. On the other hand, the PDR-M1 has 50% more pixels in its sensor, and definitely gives sharper pictures that can be printed at larger sizes. It also gives you a fair bit more control over the picture taking process, with independent exposure-compensation adjustment of the flash and ambient exposure, and several "manual" white balance settings. An important step for you would be to download some of the images from each using your browser, and print them on your own printer at various sizes, to see for yourself how you feel about each camera's output quality. Bottom line, (resolution aside), if you're more inclined to simpler cameras, you'll probably be happy with the C20. If you're more inclined to want to tweak with exposure, flash, white balance, you'll probably find the PDR-M1 more to your liking. Either is a great device though! Good luck, hope this helps...

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), October 24, 1998.

Also, you will want to consider your interface with the computer. The C20 uses Compact Flash cards. The main interface is serial cables or you need a PCMCIA reader to get the images into your computer. The PDR-M1 has the option of using a floppy disk (FlashPath) to get the images in. Both are extra options. It again falls to your discression.

-- Kevin Yamano (kevin.yamano@tais.toshiba.com), November 03, 1998.