Engadget was quite excited about the Gateway DC-T50 5 megapixel camera, now selling for $150 at various retailers. I know more than one person who wants a cheap digital camera that doesn’t suck, so I went looking for reviews. Steve’s Digicams has some really detailed reviews, so I was excited to see they covered the DC-T50. They say it’s a rebranded Toshiba PDR-5300. Their review is based on a price of $350, so weigh that when considering their so-so conclusions. Engadget is sure that the Gateway’s low price point is a mistake, but for now it looks like the best $150 camera around.

On the other hand, I looked up the
Olympus C4000 Zoom for reference and found they loved it. The C4000 is my camera, and I like it too, so comparing what they say about each is rather instructive (instructive in as much as I’m not going to trade my Olympus for the Gateway, even for 25% more pixels).

It was in the C4000 review that I found a link to their NiMH battery and charger review. From there, I found this rather detailed battery shootout. Based on all that, I’m now adding the Maha NiMH batteries and charger to my wish list.

Finally, I should mention that I’m looking for a cheap camera that’s compatible with Image Capture’s remote control mode. I might go test a DC-T50 at the store (if they let me) to see if it works. By “works,” of course, I mean that the computer controls the camera, triggers the shutter, and pictures are downloaded directly over USB. Panther’s Image Captures can do all this via a web browser (at http://localhost:5100/, or even from a remote machine). My interest is in using a quality digicam to get HD-resolution time-lapse sequences.

Posted September 16, 2004 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Technology. .

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