Digital-Camera Reviews

I purchased a DV-S20 last week. Well, I have to agree with what the people who give this product one and two stars have to say. I really cannot add much more to what's been said about it, but I can confirm that it performs poorly in pretty much all aspects of operations. The one thing that I truly did not care for, is that the camera insists on taking pictures at 1/30 of a second, no matter how much light is available. I adjusted the ISO by bumping it up to 400, but to no avail. In some cases, the shutter operated at 1/6 of a second! With shutter speeds that slow, it's no wonder that most of the pictures were fuzzy. Once in a great while, I was able to get a good, clear picture. But that was only achieved by holding the camera perfectly still with two hands and leaning up against something solid. Unfortunarely, this method isn't very practical in the real world. I used up the batteries very quickly because I spent so much time deleting a lot of bad pics. The video I took of my normally graceful gray tabby made her look as if she was in an earthquake. It was very jerky.

I got this for Hannukah from my parents, and although it's not exactly a real camcorder it really is better than nothing. The Digital Camera on here all out sucks basically, but once in a while you can nail a decent digital picture. As for the camcorder it's ok, you can't exactly make a real movie, (unless you buy more memory, which is almost the price of the camera/camcorder itself), but even so ive enjoyed making short documentarys and sending them to my friends. Anothjerb great thing is the size, I mean you can take it anywhere, you never know what you could get on tape. Anyway overall, this is a decent item.

This camera is just great. The quality of the videos and pics aren't perfect like you would see from an 1000 dollar camera but I love them because I just want a camera that I can have fun with and not get real serious about it. First of all it's inexpensive so if it breaks, it isn't the end of the world and since it's so small you can take it anywhere. It includes software that you can use to edit and create your own movie masterpiece. It's zoom is a little weak but having a great zoom is too high above the price range of this product. Its battery life is about one hour but if you get the accessory pack it will turn into 90 minutes if you use the batterys included in it. The vidoes do include sound since the camera has a microphone. Another great quality it has is the fact that it can record up to 18 minutes and 700 pictures with its 64 MB internal memory. I would recommend this to someone who doesnt want the top of the line camera (if you do than spend more money) but wnats something that will be easy and fun to use. Really, anyone who wants to make movies should buy this. That's what my intention was and I love it.

The items in the accessory kit are all very high quality. The batteries and charger are great. The charger can handle AA and AAA batteries and there is room for up to 4 batteries. The DC adapter is handy when you want to save battery power and you don't plan on moving around much. The case, handy for traveling with your camera, has a belt loop, but makes for a bulky load when the camera is attached to the belt. The mini-tripod is fun, but the camera can cause the tripod to fall over because of the lop-sided weight. The tripod legs to not expand. Overall, the kit is by no means and requirement for DVS20 owners, but full of high quality and very useful items.

This camera is only compatible with Gateway brand USB cables. If you happen to lose your USB cable then you are out of luck because Gateway does not sell the cable alone. I don't understand why Gateway doesn't sell replacement parts for its own camera, especially since no other brand works. Curiously, this problem didnt seem at all interesting to the 4 different Gateway employees I spoke with.

I ordered this camera from Gateway, directly, at a relatively modest price for a 5.25MP digital camera. The camera was fabulous outdoors but faces and backgrounds had a green cast when using the flash. I tried various flash settings and finally decided that my camera had a flaw. I emailed Gateway and received an immediate response asking me to call an agent. After a brief explanation of my problem I was told that a new camera would be sent immediately. The new camera takes perfect pictures! The detail is incredible and the color is accurate.

There are some exceptional features on this little camera such as a sturdy and attractive metal casing, easy to use controls, a multitude of settings which allow you to choose aperture or shutter speed preferences, portrait mode which blurs the background and includes a red eye reduction flash feature, a choice of focal distances including a macro lens feature, movie clips with sound, 3x optical zoom (I reccommend using only optical zoom with a digital camera)and many more. The battery is rechargeable directly in the camera and it stays charged for a long time. There is also a battery life meter as well as an indicator of space available on the sd card.

There are some problems as well. The red eye reduction though helpful is not perfect. This is a problem that exists with all small digital cameras and can be fixed on your computer. The time between pressing the shutter release button and getting an image is long especially with a 512MB card. This may account for the blurred pictures that some people have commented about. You MUST hold still until the picture appears on your monitor or your motion will blur the image. (Try keeping your elbows in at your side for more stability.) Another reason for blurred images might be choosing the wrong focus. If you are set in macro mode and snapping a distant object it will appear blurred and vice versa for close objects and long distance settings. The flash is not extremely powerful but works as well as any other small digital I've used, and I've used many. This is not a strong suit of compact digital cameras.

Overall this is a great value for the price and the photos you get will be as good as or better than any point and shoot film camera you now own. The advantage will be that you can view them immediately, email to friends, and print photos yourself using a photo printer and your computer. No more waiting for the photomat to do its job. Be aware that you should bring along an extra card and an extra battery if you want to be assured of uninterrupted use of any digital camera. Since these items are reuseable indefinitely they are worth the investment.

I've owned digital cameras since they first came out. I've been trying new models, Some much more expensive like Kodak DX 6490. I expected to be blown away by Kodak DX 6490 images. Instead I was disappointed. Indoor images all had lighting issues and lacked detail. Downloading was a big hassle and videos failed to download at all with XP.

After reading reading the reviews of the Gateway DC-T50 I was sorry I ordered it and prepared for bad performance. I can't understand the comments about bad indoor shots, unless you don't wait for camera to adjust. One of my indoor shots is so good that I'll probably frame it and hang it up. You can see individual hairs in my dog's ear without macro mode.

I do wish videos were unlimited up to card size and that you could use regular rechargeable batteries, just because of ease and availability. Some of the bigger names may have more features & zoom = more $ and possibly better image MAYBE NOT.

It's a great value with tons of features. Image quality is ALWAYS subjective. Give it a try you may be pleasantly surprised too.

I bought this camera as a graduation gift, so I wasn't able to test it during Gateway's 15 day full refund policy. As soon as it was used, it said the battery was low on brand new batteries. The representative at Gateway said they could replace the product (which took 3 months). The replacement did the exact same thing as the original, so I called Gateway again. This time, after talking to a supervisor, I was offered an upgrade to the Gateway M42. I have not gotten this yet, but I am waiting to see if this camera has the same issue.

Our camera turns off in mid use. We had it for 20 days and Gaetway would not replace. I went to the GAteway store and tehy siad they had a lot of probelms with this camera. They would fix it if I paid the cost of shipping. I have learned my lesson never to shop at Gateway.

I bought this camera directly from Gateway. I, unfortunately, kept it too long to send it back.

When I first received it, I took about 10 pictures. 8 of them were very grainy/blurry. From a 5MP camera, that's ridiculous. I assumed (fallaciously) that I simply was not using the camera correctly.

My attempt to learn to use the camera 'properly' is what caused my delay in returning it, and forced me to sell it on eBay for significantly less than I paid for it.

Don't buy this camera.

I thought this camera would be a great value for the amount of Mega-pixels. It isn't worth it.

Issues:

1. Horrible lag from the moment you push the button to actual shutter movement.

2. The camera's body and telescoping lense feel CHEAP and poorly fitted.

3. I'm having memory card issues/errors that I haven't been able to solve yet.

Save your money and get a recognized brand.

i have had the worst service in my entire life they shipped me the camera that i canceled and told me they would ship me labels to return it it has been 16 days since then and i caled them. they just then shipped them all this time keeping my money colladeral. do not order anything online from them it is hell.

If you like purchasing batteries then this is the camera for you. You cant even download all your pics onto the computer before the batteries die. The camera does not even come with a wall plug in so you have to spend more $$. I have had this camera since Christmas and I dont like using it because of the battery issues. Save your $$ on this product. The pics dont even look good the quality is worse then my old 2 Mega pixel camera

This is not a good quality product. Do not expect even fair pictures. After I bought it, pictures was not coming good. I thought "it can't be camera, probably I am making some mistakes". I tried everything for one week. No progress at all. Finally I invited one of my friend who has 2 Mpixel Minolta Camera. We set the tripod. We took same pictures with two different cameras. You should see the differences. His pictures far better than mine. (If anyone want to see them I can send via E-mail and all other pictures I took.)

Battery life is another story. It does not hold any battery even Ni-MH.

Costumer service is not satisfactory. They deliberately does not discuss the quality. All they talk is "policy". I wonder "is there a policy about sending inferior product and labeling it 4 megapixel".
Now, I have to pay restocking fee. Instead of getting an apology, it cost me money and lots of time.

I purchased this product to replace a 1.2 MP Olympus camera. In every aspect it is an inferior product. The 4 year old 1.2 MP camera has far superior image quality under all operating conditions. Battery life is a major issue and represents a serious design flaw. After following advice from Gateway to return the product for repair, I received a replacement which was no better. At this point, they refused to allow me to return the product stating that they do not accept returns for replaced units. They have no concept of customer service. I am now stuck with an inferior product that is essentially useless for its intended purpose.