Aiptek PenCam Trio

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5,
4 votes

Price Paid:  $70.00 from BestBuy

Summary:
I''ll be as brief as this form allows... This pen-cam, though small, is unusable for ANY indoor pics. The picture quality is so grainy, it''s a disgrace to Aiptek. If you''re going to use it 100% outdoors, it''s great, otherwise consider alternatives.

Strengths:
Small footprint

Weaknesses:
Grainy indoor images, frequently not enough light AT ALL

Similar Products Used:
None

Customer Service:
NA

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5,
2 votes

Price Paid:  $80.00 from ritzcamera.com

Summary:
Basically anyone purchasing a camera like this is looking for something small and inexpensive. Either that or they want a claim to the James Bond role. They have to realize that it has no removable memory, no flash, no zoom, no LCD which displays the photo and the photo quality is not like higher priced cameras (not to say it is bad). Basically the camera serves its purpose. The previous comment that it took bad pictures indoors could be a little exagerated. For me, it took fine pictures indoors with some windows letting the sun in on a well lit day. (Yes not downstairs in a closet). The pictures I took were 640x480 which is it''s highest resolution. If these are just photos you need to take of objects to post on ebay or for quick personal pictures to post on a personal dating service or for anything else where quality is not an issue, I believe the camera is fine. Is it''s color perfect, NO. Does it take sharp enough pictures near or far range, I''d say NO. Can you make out the zit I got on my neck last week YES. If you get the benefit of my review, you gotta deal with my bad jokes. Anyhow the camera came with a simple USB cable to hook it up and didn''t take long to install driver & software.

Strengths:
Size and price and USB (simple windows install)

Weaknesses:
No preview LCD, No flash, No zoom, No removable memory.

Similar Products Used:
Polaroid I-Cam Digital Camera

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
1 Week

Summary:
While the pencam is a neat concept, its biggest drawback is lack of a flash/light sensitivity. It doesn't capture if the light reading is too low and wouldn't take ANYthing indoors -- even if light was coming in from outdoors AND inside lights were on. So much for holiday pictures....I totally lost out and so, then, did Aiptek because I sent my cam back.

Strengths:
size, number of images it store, web and handheld, ease of use

Weaknesses:
no flash, needs a LOT of light to register images, instructions are sparse

Similar Products Used:
None

Customer Service:
Ordered from Home Shopping Network and they're great for returns.

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
2 Weeks

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
2 votes

Summary:
First things first... I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!!! First, its only the size of a highliter and it has a sleek and sexy look to it. Second, it takes interesting pictures. If you're looking for a camera that takes Hi Resolution pics, then forget it. What this camera DOES take are the kind of pictures that evoke the sense of nostalgia that is reminiscent of the photo quality from the 60's and 70's. Is this a good thing? In my opinion-- ABSOLUTELY!!! Its like finding a digital version of a really old camera! When using the camcorder feature, the results end up looking like a mini movie (10 seconds in 352x288; 45 seconds in 176x144) that was shot on one of those old Super 8 film cameras, which I think is even cooler than having a clear/accurate quality-- plus its effortless to combine still photos with your movies, so that you can create really cool transition effects. The bottom line is that this is the camera that you'll take everywhere you go and when you want to capture an event in your life, you'll be able to reproduce it in a very cool way... call me sentimental but I think that "old school" film quality has a certain flavor to it that is completely lacking in cameras that simply reproduce the clarity of an event. Pictures are samples of memories and I think that they look more interesting when they look like they came from the past. Great Job Aiptek!

Strengths:
Ridiculously Portable, Interesting Picture Quality, Great Camcorder feature, sexy spy look, long battery life, Nice software suite, Extremely Easy to Use!

Weaknesses:
No Flash, volatile memory (you must download your pics before the battery life runs out), No possibility for expansion. No compression options for the movies, and movies can only be created from the camera's memory, NOT from your saved images.

Similar Products Used:
Web Cam Go Plus (Another great produtct)

Customer Service:
Not needed...