5 comments about SiPix SC-2300 Deluxe 2.1MP Digital Camera.

1. 1.It gives very dark pictures just three or four feet away from the subject regardless of the flash being on or not.
   2. the central button to select activity turns around with the slightets move, even after you turn the camera off and it is inside a bag.
   3. Three months after I bought it and probably using it for about half a dozen times and for less than fifty pictures, all of a sudden in the middle of taking Christmas pictures it stopped working, and it has not worked since. No it does not have any thing to do with the battery. So now I really do not know what to do with it. I bought it from CompUSA, and they are not willing to get involved. It is a total waste of my money, and I will not touch this brand name again. Shame on you SiPix



2. For Christmas my Sis decided to purchase a digital camera for herself. Knowing that I knew more about techs than she does, she asked me to search for a decent digital camera under $$$. I narrowed my search between Sipix's SC-2300 and HP's PS320. Both had the same retail price of $$$ with similar specs, except Sipix had a larger LCD (HP: 1.5, Sipix 1.8), double the memory to 16MB, and a slightly larger mega pixel by 0.1 (HP has a 2.0 mega pixel). After comparing the specs I opted for the Sipix camera, so when I saw the camera being sold for 30 dollars less at Amazon for $$$... I bought it.

   I surely thought I had made the right decision, but I was absolutely disappointed the first day I used it. First of all the driver that came with the box did not work properly with Windows XP. After being frustrated trying to figure out why it did not work properly with my Sis notebook, and after numerous attempts to reinstall the driver, I visited Sipix's poorly-made website. There, Sipix explained that there is a problem with the old driver running under WinXP, and said that downloading the new version would resolve it. Windows XP has been out in the market since October 2001, so for Sipix to not have caught this major bug is absolutely appalling. After I installed the driver the camera finally started to work with my notebook.

   Another gripe I have about this camera is that the picture quality of the LCD is terrible. The LCD is dark even in bright conditions. It would have been better to have not included the LCD feature, not only is it useless it also drains the battery life significantly; so it's wise to shut the LCD feature off.

   The camera came with 4 AA batteries that quickly died-out in less than two hours of use with LCD use. The camera does not include an electric cord to connect to the outlet, and because I did not have any 4 AA batteries around me I couldn't use it until the next day when I bought a new set of battery. Unless you want to keep on driving to the store for batteries every other day, I recommend you purchase 4 AA NiHM rechargeable batteries with recharger; that's another $$$ out from your wallet.

   Despite the measly battery life, bad driver, and dark LCD, it does produce acceptable pictures. But after all these troubles even if the pictures were life-like, I wouldn't recommend this camera.

   I....

   If you're in the market for a digital camera opt for one that includes rechargeable batteries and better Quality LCD. Unfortunately these are pricier, so if your budget is limited it's probably best to wait for prices to go down and for the technology to get better. This is certainly not the right time for to purchase high-quality, low priced digital cameras at this time




3. I was extremely happy when I first got the camera. Easy to use, good (PDF) manual, Really nice detailed pictures for the price and I've never even used the "high quality" mode! That's where it ends though!! I first started having problems when the weather turned cold. I was taking some outside pictures on a day with 32 to 40 degree temps and after about 5 shots, the camera said "unformatted mem"?? I lost those 5 pix. This has happened numerous times since and Tech Support says the SmartMedia chips are only good above 32 degrees. So now I run out take a few shots then run back in the house and xfer them to the pc. It has degraded some more with a red blurry bar in the photos when using the flash inside...(any light source or setting)and the latest is an intermittent "door open" message with the door closed. Yup..if I press on the battery/mem door, the indication changes.. sometimes.

   Those outside pix I manage to save are still excellent quality though...I guess the "Glass is only half cracked".

   Guess I'll see how their RMA process works.....




4. I received this camera as a Christmas gift. The batteries actually pop out of the camera without warning. The driver software is defective. I have gotten the software to work one time. I contacted the company about the problems with the camera and software. I have yet to get a reply or any assitance of any kind. My advice is to let that camera decorate the shelf on the shop where they sell them.



5. I'm maximiiano from Argentina and some days ago y bought a SC-300 SI PIX deluxe.
   Thisa camera takes GREAT PICTURES it reaches 275x300 DPI!!!! for digital prints using it's max resolution (2MP) I recomend to us the power adapter 6v 2 amp center positive, an 4 1800mah(minimun, i'm using a 2200mah) NIMH rechargabel battery.
   I ALSO TAKE PICTURES TO THE FIREWORKS.
   I RECOMEND YOU THIS ONE

5 comments about SiPix StyleCam DV100 Digital Video Camera.

1. When I started my family, I bought an 8mm camera. I can probably count the number of times I used it on one hand in the five years I've owned it. It was bulky, needed frequent recharging, and frankly, after a while, I would forget to bring it out. I was looking for something small, digital, and of course inexepensive. I gave the SiPix a shot. I love this little camera. I can take it everywhere and it's very simple to use. The software is also simple, but it doesn't have alot of features. If buying this camera, it is a MUST to purchase a memory stick, at LEAST 256 MB or you can't record video for more than a couple of minutes. Also, there is no flash, so only outside or in lit areas. I was dissapointed that there was no flash or lighting options, and battery life (2 AAs) doesn't last as long as I like (but longer than the 8mm NiMH, how sad). Overall, this camera had performed how I expected it to for the cost. The quality is not the best, but decent, and it works great to record little moments on family trips and the kid's activities. If you are looking for portable, digital, and an inexpensive camera to start with; and can live with "ok" quality, this is the camera to buy. Especially since it's a great starter camera if you're not sure you want to upgrade to digital camcorders because of price. The money you spend on this camera is worth "experimenting" in the digital world, before you upgrade to the "big dogs"



2. My 8 year old wanted a digital camera/camcorder and i didn't like her using mine and I wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars for one for a child. So this was a great and welcome alternative. It works great, she is thrilled to bits. I love the fact that you can hook it straight up to the vcr and playback and record her creations without having to upload to a computer.
   She and her siblings played with it all day long. I purchased the 128mb card for ours and it's enough for us. I agree with the other review in that I wish it had a power supply. But I guess rechargeable batteries will be the best way to go. Overall extremely pleased with the product for the price.



3. My son is an avid skater and has been begging for a video camera to film their antics. Got him this last Christmas, for about $100 after rebate, and more than a year later it's still holding up. He hasn't broken any part of it and continues to blaze through the AA batteries. Can't get much better than that. I wouldn't give it to a child younger than about 12 years old because it's not a Fisher Price - it's a little more delicate than that - but 12 and over for sure! The only drawback is that it's only good in bright sunlight. He can't shoot anything in the evening and he would like to.



4. I crossdress and do a lot of flashing and upskirting-I use the video camera to take clips of me and put then in my groups-they have a small file size-I can get about 20-25 second clips in less than 1 meg-I would recomend this camera to anyone who wants to email clips or put them in communities or groups-Also small enough it can be set up and not really be noticed



5. I am a very avid filmaker. My parents bought this for me more than a year ago. It's really small and useful. The lighting is really pretty bad, but this is a great camera for a beginner. I have good cameras that I can use for other, more important things, but if you're going out you can just put it in your pocket, and take it with you.

5 comments about SiPix SC3300 3.3 MP Digital Camera.

1. Good pics, but this camera goes through batteries like they are a penny apiece! I put in fresh new alkaline batteries and downloaded some pictures and in less than 5 minutes, the batteries were D E A D!! The batteries in my old Olympus lasted through a whole day of shooting and downloading. Also, this camera gives no warning of the batteries running low, it just shuts off. Very frustrating when you are trying to get that crucial shot. This camera is good if you are taking snapshots at home, but lousy on extended outings due to the high power consumption. Be warned, the initial price is low, but you'll quickly make up the difference on battery purchases. Rechargeable batteries? Sure, but for the extra money, you might as well get a better camera that uses alkalines conservatively. PROS: Nice Pics CON: Sucky power consumption and poorly designed power switch. My advice: Spend a few more bucks and get a good name-brand camera.



2. I think this is a very good camera at a very good price. You have to get a little used with setting the flash, exposure value and white balance manually so you can get really excellent pctures.

   Some of the pros of the camera are: 3.3 megapixel resolution, manual controls like exposure and flash... and some of the cons: when you have it in your hands, it doesn't feel very solid it's like if you toss it, it will tear into pieces instead of just scratching, also the macro mode is pretty much useless because you can't get very close, you can't read the LCD outdoors when it's sunny (but it's OK, use the viewfinder), very low battery life (buy rechargables and you will notice a BIG difference).

   Well, there are more cons than pros, bur anyways if you take care of it and learn how to squeeze the juice out of it you can have it for about a year or two and then buy a more professional camera




3. ...

   GREAT camera if you're jumping into digital. New or used, you can't get a better feel for what 3.2MP resolution with many of the features many high-end cameras carry for the price (white balance, exposure compensation, movie mode, B&W and sepia, rapid shots, and photo editing software).

   The high points are the 3.3 MP, large LCD, auto-focus, rapid shot mode (4 pics in a row), movie mode, ArcSoft PhotoImpression. The low points are no optical zoom and heavy battery consumption. I don't use zoom since camera shake always ruins my pics. Also, since I have a 3.2MP image, I can crop using PhotoImpression and still get a great 4x6 or 5x7. I found that using the flash when the light is behind the subject does an excellent job as fill flash. And rechargables are a necessity with ANY electonics!

   I compared it to a Fuji finepix 2.0 MP camera and found the images to be comparable. Fuji did have better color and light compensation when you look at the original jpeg but the Sipix SW made up for the correction (modify contract & lightness, increase saturation). Beside, I never met a digital image I didn't want to manipulate!

   BTW, I'm using a 256MB flash card which works with this camera!

   Note:
   1 - set to macro mode if you're less than 3 ft away
   2 - time/date resets when you replace batteries
   3 - there is no sound recorded with movie mode although you CAN record 45 minutes on 128MB CF
   4 - low compression = 1.6MB (9 pics w/ 16MB), high compress = 600 KB (24 pics w/ 16MB);




4. Been playing with this camera for a several days & the only thing I can find wrong with it is a power button that is slightly hard to thumb. Yes, it eats batteries, but only takes 2 at a time, so is not as bad as others make it out to be. As far as the reviews that say it doesnt work with XP - they are the clueless that dont know how to install the drivers that come with it. Install the software people!!! In other words, take the shiny disk out of the envelope & put it in that coffee holder on the front of yer computer. Personally had NO problems on 3 different XP systems and works fine on Win2k as well. No frills basic camera, but takes very good quality pics and is simple to use. Needs more memory than the 16Mb it comes with, but mem cards are cheap these days.



5. It is cheep and almost useless as a toy. Do not have any technical support once you run into problem. Don't buy it.