HP Photosmart 320: A Great Digital Camera for a Casual User

Author's Rating:

Pros: Very easy to use, good quality pictures

Cons: Pictures taken with the zoom are blurry, it eats batteries

The Bottom Line: 
The HP Photosmart 320 Digital Camera is a great, easy to use camera for someone who just wants to take basic pictures for online and printing.

Author's Review
I never really asked for a digital camera, but my Mom, the photography nut, got me the HP Photosmart 320 for Christmas. I've enjoyed using it so far.

The Camera's Features

The Photosmart 320 has 2.1 MP, with a 4x digital zoom. It has 8 MB internal memory but mine also has a card with 32 MB of space to allow for storage of 32 photos taken at the highest quality level (this item was a gift but I'm pretty sure this card was purchased separately). It has a red eye reduction and autoflash and 1.75in. preview screen on the back of the camera. It comes with the USB cord for connecting to your computer and software for uploading and for photo editing.

It's relatively small, compact, and lightweight. It doesn't come with any type of bag or even a lens cover. I've had to put mine in an old camera bag for safe carrying. The preview screen does have a little scratch on it already.

It also has a short, 30 second video capability that's fun to play with but I admit has never made it off my camera.

Use of the Camera

The Photosmart 320 comes with an instruction manual which explains its many features. I've never been one to follow them much, preferring to just use it and figure out the various things myself. This has been a very easy camera to use. The buttons for the flash features (auto, red eye, on, off), photo quality (3 levels-good, better, best), and zoom/timer are clearly marked. It features a digital menu that is easy to follow for reviewing photos and performing other things such as deleting and sending directly via e-mail. Once you press the button to snap the picture, it takes it nearly immediately.

I find I don't use the Zoom feature often. It doesn't have a way to focus manually and the photos come out blurry. If you want a camera with a great Zoom, this is not the one. The 2x zoom is usually fine but the 4x is pretty blurry.

The thing does use up batteries but not nearly as bad as I thought it would after seeing how my Mom's ate batteries. I've had to replace the batteries once since Christmas with use a couple of times a week. I'd recommend either rechargeable batteries or else the special ones for digital cameras (my Mom stuck a pack in there for me. These things aren't cheap but last a long time!).

Uploading to the Computer

I was always a little intimidated by digital cameras after seeing others use theirs (specifically after seeing my Mom get hers and struggle to figure out how to get them from the camera to the computer a few years ago). Fortunately, the Photosmart 320 has been very easy to use upon uploading the software to my computer and following the step by step instructions given.

The Photosmart 320 comes with a USB cable for uploading to the computer. You can also purchase an optional photo docking system. I considered that but in the end, it's just as easy for me to hook up the USB cord and upload. The USB cable connects to a little flip up compartment on the side of the camera (where the memory card also fits). The photos upload quickly into the HP software. The software then allows you click on the photo you want to edit the pictures by resizing, cropping, adjusting the color, etc.

You can also use the USB cable to send photos directly to the printer or to e-mail. I've never used either of these features, preferring to upload to the computer first to edit then to print or e-mail, so I can't comment on how well this works!

The photo quality I've gotten is very good (even though I haven't upgraded my printer like I need to!). I haven't tried any enlargements but based upon the info I've read on this camera, it's suitable for up to 8x10 but not anything larger.

I'd Recommend This For...

Someone who wants to take and print basic photos, without many extra bells and whistles. You can enlarge up to 8x10 with good quality. I think it's probably very suitable for most people's needs since most of us just use our digitals for regular snapshots and e-mail.

The price is also very affordable. Mine was a gift but I believe it was in the $150 range. My Mother purchased a digital camera when they were first hitting the market a few years ago, with similar features, at about 4x the cost!

Thanks for reading!