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Under 2 Megapixels
Panasonic SV-AS10D D-Snap 2MP Digital Camera (Orange)

Panasonic SV-AS10D D-Snap 2MP Digital Camera (Orange)

List Price: $299.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: So COOOOOL!!!!
Review: 2.11 MEGA PIXEL / MP3 PLAYER / VOICE RECORDER (Digital/super quality), Digital CAMCORDER in ONE!!! Super small!!! (less than 1 centimeters thick!!) It fits in your pocket!!!! Camera is better than Canon A60 I had. The flash is so strong and NO NOISE WHATSOEVER even at ISO 200 ! So much details. Oh yes, it comes with every accessories in a box!! case, memory card, strap, MP3 software, cool Japanese style earphone with remote, and much more!!! Battery lasts for 10 HOURS in one charge!!!! It has docking station that you can charge and do whatever you want! Nobody notices when I take pictures because it is so small. Don't buy cheap camera phone that is only 0.11 mega pixels and cost half a thousand, save money and get free phone and this SUPER GADGET!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sweet camera
Review: First of all, the complaints about the image quality are TOTALLY untrue. For some reason people expect 5 megapixel quality from a 2 MP camera - its not going to happen! The camera definitely gets a lot of looks from people when you use it, because its smaller than most cell phones. The rechargable batteries are awesome, and the cradle included makes transfering pictures to the PC a snap! The only complaint I have is that the flash is too close to the lens; it reflects dust particals, thus creating 'white spots' on some pictures. However, this only occurs on occasion(ie - dusty rooms). I would recommend this if you want something portable and good picture quality. Plus, dont forget to upgrade the SD card to atleast 128M.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: small in size and ok picture quanlity
Review: first, the camera has a really cool color, orange, blue and silver. It had music player, still picture, voice recorder, and video, a lot of functions. In a really small of camera size. It used SD memory card, so you can keep data on multiple card, you nevr run out of memory. If you dont need super super clear picture quanlity, I would say it is the best camera!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Picture quality just fair
Review: For a 2 MP digital camera, picture quality is only good for small print or web use, but all the other functions are great. MP3 player works well, voice recorder is excellent. I particularly like the 10 seconds note function with the picture.

If you are looking for a small (and I mean small) camera to travel so you can keep notes and pictures, this is it.

I recommend a 258 mb SD card for the camera. I brought the least expansive Sandisk one and it works fine.

I would give it a 5 stars if the picture quality is better.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great little gadget
Review: For size and build quality, this little item is superb. It is a technological marvel, being so light, yet so functional. The picture quality is excellent considering it is a 2MP camera, but the digital zoom is a little too sensitive. When the zoom is on max, a little movement is captured or the picture is blurred. In normal mode, the pictures are superb. Very sharp, clear and light capture excellent.

The user menu is pretty much self-explanatory, and easy to use. The ball button, is a little annoying at times as it is not the fastest method of navigating through menus.

The video feature is again surprisingly good, with sound capture superb, and video excellent. Again the zoom lets this feature down too. It seems the best way to use the camera/video is by not using the zoom at max or at all.

As an MP3 player, the AS10 does a good job, but is let down by the software. The Jukebox software is long-winded and complicated. It would have been much better if the software allow click and drag of files to the SD card.

Unlike general digital cameras, where the camera if it accepts SD cards it will also accept MMC cards, the AS10 does not accept anything bar the SD card. This is worth bearing in mind.

The product is self is lovely, the cradle, rechargeable battery are all good features and the AS10 also comes with carry case, although not very protective. Due to the size of the AS10, it's very handy to carry around everyday, as you never know when an exciting photo opportunity may come. Also it would have been nice if Panasonic could have supplied an SD card that is larger than 8mb.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Wrong description! Please be careful.
Review: For some reason, Panasonic is distributing a wrong spec.
Amazon uses it too. Thickness is not 0.05" as described!! it's impossible: 0.05" is thinner than the 10 cent coin! it is actually 0.4".

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: As a Camera, Its not worth buying.
Review: I bought this mainly for the small size, video clips, and still pictures. I was gonna use the other features later. The size is incredibly small and I was delighted. Did ok on the vdeo clips, even though it onlycame with a 16 meg module. Only get 20 seconds. But mainly, Until I took pictures. The pictures we outright bad.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a good cam if small size is important
Review: I got this camera about 6 weeks ago. I have heard that the best camera is the one you have with you when you need it. So that would make this a good camera. I take it with me everywhere because it is so small and fits in my pocket. It is no more inconvenient to carry than a cell phone.

A couple problems I have with it are that the lens rotates so you can take a pic of yourself....but the flash does not rotate with the lens. So if you are in a poorly lit area and want to take a pic of yourself, all the benefits of having a rotating lens are lost. This is only a minor problem to me, but I think it is poor design.

The second problem is that the SD card it comes with is small...very small. 8mb. Is that some kind of joke? Most digital cameras come with small memory cards, but they are promoting this thing as a multi function device: camera, camcorder, mp3 player. My Panasonic mp3 player came with a 64mb card, why does this come with only 8mb? It is supposed to be an mp3 player too. They might as well have not included any memory with this camera. I was lucky that I bought it while Panasonic was having a promotion and they sent me a free 128mb card. Which only took about 1 week to arrive, not 6-8 like they said.

I only use the camera function, so I cannot comment on the other functions, but overall I am happy with it. However I would not want this to be my only camera. When I go on a trip or someplace where I know I will be taking a lot of pics I will bring a different camera, as this camera is only 2mp and does not have an optical zoom. If you want a small camera you can carry with you at all times then this one is good. If small size is not the most important thing to you, then you should look at something else.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Surprisingly good for its size
Review: I would rank its 3 functions in this order: camera, MP3 player, video recorder. Details on each follow:

Camera: As a 2 Megapixel camera, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the pictures. This won't replace a dedicated camera, but as a device you can always have with you, it does a good job. Its primrary limitations are the very short range of the flash (making group photos tougher than you would like) and the lack of zoom (it's a fixed-focal length lens set at a pretty wide angle).

MP3 Player: First the bad news - you have to use the supplied software to upload music to be played. The Jukebox software "locks" your music in an attempt to add some sort of digital rights management. Which means if you already have a large library of encoded music, you still have a slow import process to go through before you can put music on the device. Painful and unnecessary. However, the quality of the playback is good. I wish the cord on the headphones was longer. If you put a large SD card in this, you can have a 512mb MP3 player that is also a decent camera for not much more than a 256mb dedicated MP3 player.

Video recorder: This is pretty nominal. Resolution is fixed at 320x240 with a fixed (no zoom) wide angle lens. And you cannot move very quickly or the image immediately blurs. So it's OK as a quick use item and marginally better than the short video functions on most digital cameras. But don't buy this for its video ability.

Overall pros and cons....

Pros: Great form factor and design. Like the iPod, this is a device you just have to hold in your hands to enjoy fully. It is a pleasure and a delight (it is also smaller than the iPod!). It is really impossible to convey how petite, yet right-sized it is without seeing it in person. Camera is better than you expect and MP3 playback is decent.

Cons: At less then $200, this would be a deal. At current prices, it is slightly steep. Since they only throw in an 8 Mb SD card, count on getting a 128/256 Mb card yourself for photos/music (another $60-120). Or even 512 Mb if you want to do video capture. But be aware that the video mode is pretty nominal. The lack of any optical zoom hurts as well.

Overall, I would recommend to those lookng for a small, all-in-one device. Particularly if you already have invested in SD cards for other devices. Shop around and aim for as close to $250 as possible.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sound playback nearly inaudible, can't really do MP3s
Review: I've found two deficiencies with this product, that make it (for me, at least) unacceptable.

1. Sound playback (e.g. using the voice recording capability) is way too soft, through the unit's built-in speaker. Its barely audible, even with playback volume at its loudest setting. Using the included earbuds, it provides adequate sound volume (e.g. normal voice level), so its not a problem with the recording sensitivity, but rather the playback. I thought I might have gotten a faulty unit, but I also tried a second one, the playback volume problem was the same. When I demonstrated the problem to a store clerk, even he admitted that it sucked.

2. The product is advertised as being able to play MP3s, but you can't just copy them to the SD card, you have to use the included software to import them, which will wrap your sound files with "digital rights management". The software appears to want to install DRM on your computer, and if you decline, the software just crashes. For me, this is false advertising, and then you also won't be able to interchange your music with e.g. your PDA. Would you buy a cassette player/walkman that required special software to "install" your audio on the cassette, but then only allowed you to play that audio on that particular player?

Aside from the above two problems, the camera functions OK in daylight, but the flash is underpowered, most of my nighttime pictures did not come out.

Its too bad the above two deficiencies are so bad, I really wanted to like this device, its really quite small, thin, and light, a pleasure to carry in the pocket or around the neck. But at its price point, with the above two (easily fixable) problems, I'd rather return it and get something else.

p.s. The box lists an 800 phone number for technical support, but after navigating the voice menu and waiting 10 minutes on hold, the technician tells me its the wrong phone number for this camera. Ugh.


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