Recreational & Family - SmartMini Digicam ????

Anyone familiar with this?

http://www.allabc.com/1/

I received a broadcast email - to which I never respond, BUT, even though I already have a couple of digicams, I would like to have a cheapie just to throw and keep in the wedge so that when I came upon a scene I wanted to record, I could do it easily, realizing that it would not be any kind of great shot.

Nowhere does it mention pixels or any stats about the camera.

Anyone familiar with this thing?

Originally posted by DnvrFox

Anyone familiar with this thing?

My guess would be that it's under 1MP. Probably has a max resolution of 640x480@24bpp. I have a camera like that and it works fine for the most part. The image quality isn't great but for that price you can't expect much. However, what really gets me is the lack of a flash. I use it for MTBing because I don't want to risk a more expensive camera (I carry my Minolta DiMage X for road biking) but many times I find myself in woods with lighting conditions too low for the camera to handle. I've been thinking about getting the Archos i-SeaPhoto (http://www.archos.com/lang=en//products/prw_500344.html) as a replacement. It's a more expensive camera than the one you mentioned (US$60 vs US$40) but it has a flash and is waterproof (if used with included housing). The downside is that it's a bit larger than the SmartMini and more expensive although it still fits well within the budget-camera price league (< US$100, IMHO). It's less expensive than my current Aiptek PencamII which was US$85 when I got it. Here's a pretty good review of the Archos:

http://www.tweakmonster.com/products/camera_page1.htm

Thanks.

Also, I found a bunch of prices for the Archos.

For an extra $20, it seems well worth the money.

http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/ProductM.jsp?nxtg=b3373b_D5ECF544A209968D&kw=Archos_DIG_WEB_CAM&ptitle=55402590&pdir=5&click=n&node=500000&core=&page=1&lgnode=500000&lgsearch=archos

If you do end up getting the I-SeaPhoto, you will want to pay close attention to the instructions/FAQ. There's a warning in there about making sure you turn the flash off before plugging the USB cable in otherwise you risk damage to the electronics. Seems an odd design flaw to me but then again I'm always one for making sure my camera is always off before plugging in the transfer cable.

Dnvr, not familiar with the model you're talking about.
I bought one of these (http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?ProductID=1458960&CatID=1758&IID=863) about 8 or 9 months ago. They look similar. They are showing the camera mounted in the stand for using as a webcam.

Great little camera. It was $36 when I bought it. Holds over 100 images, 480x640. Also does avi's.
For the small size (easily fits in a rear jersey pocket) and the price I'm very happy. :beer:

Originally posted by RonH
Dnvr, not familiar with the model you're talking about.
I bought one of these (http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?ProductID=1458960&CatID=1758&IID=863) about 8 or 9 months ago. They look similar. They are showing the camera mounted in the stand for using as a webcam.

Great little camera. It was $36 when I bought it. Holds over 100 images, 480x640. Also does avi's.
For the small size (easily fits in a rear jersey pocket) and the price I'm very happy. :beer:

Okay I bought one at:

http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.process?RestartFlow=t&Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1&Product_Id=3665344&showcase=t

for a total of $35 including shipping.

Originally posted by DnvrFox
Okay I bought one at:

http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.process?RestartFlow=t&Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1&Product_Id=3665344&showcase=t

for a total of $35 including shipping.

I've actually got one as well, I bought it in CompUSA when I was over in October. I think I paid $30 for it. I can't be sure.

The only problem I have found is that the battery will go flat in a couple of weeks even if the camera is not in use. I guess it is using the battery to keep the memory running

OK how did I miss those deals? As I said I paid $36 plus shipping. :crash:

Oh well, I'm still happy. :)

Originally posted by Hants Commuter

The only problem I have found is that the battery will go flat in a couple of weeks even if the camera is not in use. I guess it is using the battery to keep the memory running

I'm using rechargables in my Pencam. When I'm not using it, I'll either have the batteries in the recharger and/or have the USB transfer cable hooked up. Since the camera will draw power from the USB host, it doesn't drain the batteries. I don't know if this trick will work with your camera or not.

Originally posted by Hants Commuter
The only problem I have found is that the battery will go flat in a couple of weeks even if the camera is not in use.
Sorry, I forgot to mention this. :o

I discovered this problem a couple of months after I bought the camera. I just take the battery out if I'm not going to use the camera for a while. It pops in and out in a few seconds.

I don't use rechargeable batteries. I'm too cheap. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by khuon
I'm using rechargables in my Pencam. When I'm not using it, I'll either have the batteries in the recharger and/or have the USB transfer cable hooked up. Since the camera will draw power from the USB host, it doesn't drain the batteries. I don't know if this trick will work with your camera or not.

I keep on forgetting to take the battery out. As the computer is only on for a couple of hours a day most the of the power is supplied by the battery.

Originally posted by RonH

I don't use rechargeable batteries. I'm too cheap. :rolleyes:

I switched to rechargables because I was going through batteries at an amazing rate. Part of this stems from the design of the camera. The button to turn it on is rather exposed and will often get inadvertantly pushed when in my Camelbak. One of the most frustrating things for me is to take the camera out of the pack and try to use it only to find that the batteries are dead. And to add insult to injury, the realisation that I hadn't even taken a shot on that set of batteries. At least this way, I get frustrated about the missed photo-op but don't have to get frustrated again when I'm standing in the checkout line at the grocery store with a fresh set of expensive Alkaline AA batteries in hand.

How about this for suggestion

Put a small piece of plastic on the battery contact and when you want to use the camera pull the plastic out. Obviously don't put the plastic back until you have downloaded the pictures.

Its the same way a lot of battery operated products are shipped

Well, I got the Snap little tiny digital camera for $30.00 including shipping.

1. It works fine on my laptop with Windows XP

2. It doesn't work at all on the Windows 98se, despite all the help, downloads, whatever from the web site. I have emailed them for some help here.

3. I fashioned a thin piece of hard thin plastic from some of the plastic which covers almost everything you buy at the store. It works fine to turn off the battery when slipped between the negative pole. It is small enought to simply store with the battery when you want the camera to operate.

4. Here is a pic I took of a pond on on my ride today.

5. The photo editing software is great - I have HP Photosmart, etc., and this beats them all.

6. It has a neat strap so the camera goes around your neck, inside Jersey, if you like. After awhile, I didn't even know it was there. It weight 2 ounces with the battery.

good picture Mr Fox, wish we had that sort of thing avalable here at that price!

:beer: cheers g/wolf

Originally posted by greywolf
good picture Mr Fox, wish we had that sort of thing avalable here at that price!

:beer: cheers g/wolf

Is there some reason you can't order them from NZ??

They are quite light to ship.

Denver, did you edit / or crop that photo at all? Is 640 - 480 the standard image size? I think i may pick one up :)

Originally posted by Joe Gardner
Denver, did you edit / or crop that photo at all? Is 640 - 480 the standard image size? I think i may pick one up :)

I don't remember, I don't think so. I don't even remember which setting I used for the pic above.

There are two different sizes you can set the camera at.

I think one is 640x480. Don't have it handy at the moment.

I did no editing, except that I always lighten any digipic when I post to the web. They always seem too dark, no matter which digicam I use.

Joe, I found the manual.

The two settings are 640x480 and 320x240.

Dang, those are some small pics!

Denver, let me know how the quality of the pictures are. I get a little leery of the 640x480, especially when I have to manipulate the photo further when posting my pictures here!

Koffee