PROS and CONS of the PC800:

-Very light,and easy to carry. -All kinds of connectivity, USB, serial, mouse type port. Software is simple, loads easily, get started in minutes. Picture quality in OUTSTANDING in Fine to Hy Pict mode. Just as good as the S10. However, I've found the Standard mode (640x480) quality to be not so great. Honestly, not much better than the Sony Mavica FD-83 in 640x480. I compress Fine 1600x1200 (usually 240KB) pics into 640x480 for small but very high quality pics. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SHARP 640X480, THIS IS NOT THE CAMERA TO HAVE. Otherwise, picture quality is amazing. Buttons are small, but easy to use after awhile and I found the menus to be easier to use than reported by others. For the advanced photographer, lots of features to customize pics. For the average lame-brain like me, it's a great point and shoot camera. Auto mode does everything pretty good. BUY EXTRA RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES AND AC ADAPTER. IT COMES WITH THE RECHARGER. CHARGE BATTS 3 TIMES BEFORE USE. Keep in mind the camera only uses 2 AA's at a time, so extra batts go a long way. Dont waste your money on off the shelf AA's, if you use the LCD it will eat em' up in no time. The AC Adapter keeps you from burning up batteries while learning to use it or downloading many pics of the camera. Also, try and use the view finder instead of the LCD, as others have said, it really chews up the power. Lastly, buy a 48 or 64MB flash card. 8MB it comes with is way to small. Use it for backup.


Battries for your Epson digital camera   July 11, 2000
S. R. Heath (Stamford, CT United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I discovered early on that digital cameras like to eat up AA batteries. The rechargable batteries sold to go with the Epson digital camera are 1200 mAh. This means they have a capacity of 1200 milliamps for one hour. They are a great buy for the buck, however, if you wish a better battery, then go for the 1500 mAh. They have them at Radio Shack. They are $5.00 each. They also sell a charger for these units. I learned to carry an extra set with my camera and now I never seem to loose a picture because of battery problems.


How the camera REALLY is   April 15, 2000
Alex Alexzander (San Francisco)
55 out of 56 found this review helpful

I rate the PhotoPC 800 a little different. Let me give you a tiny bit of background. I searched for the perfect camera for over a year. I finally got it down to the Epson PhotoPC 800. When I got mine, I quickly threw some Duracell batteries into it to get started. The camera lasted about 4 seconds and died. I went to another store to get another set of batteries. Those died in about 1 second. I tested the batteries in other devices and they were fine. I finally charged the Epson batteries and those finally let me see the menu the camera opens when you turn it on. I took about 4 - 7 pictures with the 1.8" TFT color screen and the camera said the batteries were dead.

Bottom line is, this camera with the best of battery charges doesn't yield more than 20 pictures when used with the Flash and LCD.

So why rate this camera high? I tried a series of tests on the camera without the use of the LCD screen when taking pictures. The camera allowed me to take well over 200 pictures in 1600x1200 super fine mode on one charge. In fact, I am sure it would have gone on longer but after 200 pictures over 36 hours I got bored and ran out of pictures to take.

I really like the sharp images this camera takes. I have printed photos on mto my Epson 1270 printer. There are simply outstanding! I also transferred JPG files from my hard disk to the camera with the included software and watched them on my 27" television. I transferred the image to 640x480 24bit images into the camera. On television they were also outstanding.

If you want a camera with 24 bit image capability and 2.1 mega pixel display and are willing to give up using the LCD screen to take snaps this is quit a camera. It is small, I mean very small! I like how tiny it is. It has USB support for both Mac and PC. Uploading and downloading pictures to and from the camera is fast! No need to buy a PCMCIA or other adapters. Just hook it right up to the computer and go!

Things to do if you buy this camera.

1. Charge the batteries they give you 3 times in a row. The first timer when they are done charging remove them from the charger then re-insert them. After the red charging light goes off, charge them yet a 3rd time. 2. Never use ANYTHING but the included batteries. Buy more to carry around and you will be able to take at least 200 or more 1600x1200 super fine pictures with a 64 MB Flash Card per charge 2 battery set. 3. Use the LCD screen only once in a while to check and create settings. Most point and shoot setting do not require the LCD at all. The flash, picture resolution, snap and timer are all easy to use buttons on top. 4. Get an Epson printer like the 750 or better and print your photos. They really do come out looking just like real photos! 5. Buy the optional AC power supply. When transferring photos to and from the camera, you will avoid a lot of issues regarding power when you use the AC to perform these functions.

It all came down to this for me. Get past the LCD use for taking pictures, and use it only for reviewing images. Do that, and this is one outstanding camera!


Extremely satisfied with my Epson PhotoPC 800   January 17, 2000
Ralph Quinones (Grapevine, Texas)
38 out of 38 found this review helpful

I purchased my PhotoPC 800 last fall, before leaving for Argentina on a one month business trip. I wanted a digital camera that was small (fit in my pocket), provided 2 megapixel resolution, and was under $600. The 800 was the right choice and I am very happy with it.

Colors are bright and detail is very sharp. I have printed 8x10 pictures on my Epson Color 800 printer, framed them, hang them in my office and people cannot believe what they see! The results are outstanding.

The camera is simple to use in automatic mode, but allows changes to fullfill the most demanding user (lens opening, shutter speed, b/w mode, spot metering, etc). A quick shot mode allows about 1 picture a second. The camera even has a microphone to add up to 10 seconds of sound to a picture!

The one suggestion I have is to buy a bigger compact flash card. The provided 8Mb card only stores 20 photos in 1600x1200 compressed JPEG format. I purchased a Viking 64Mb card and can store almost 250 at the same resolution, a little over 100 in low compression and 90+ pictures in high-res interpolated mode (1984 x 1488 pixels).

I have heard some people complain about battery life. The 800 comes with 4 rechargeable NiMH batteries and charger but only uses 2, so you can always carry a charged set with you. One Sunday I shot nearly 250 pictures on one set of batteries, even using the LCD on a few occasions to check the how a picture came out.

The camera comes with all the cables you need, and though the USB conx is fast, I prefer using the PCMCIA adapter that came with my mem card. The software provided with the camera (Image Expert) detects when I insert the memory card in the laptop and flawlessly copies the pictures from the card to the local hard drive. VERY FAST!

If you can live without a zoom, and you want something very small, but with superb digital quality, I strongly recommend you look at the Epson PhotoPC 800 digital camera!