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| Polaroid PhotoMAX Digital Camera With MP3 Player |
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Hardware Reviews June 2001 • Vol.4 Issue 6 |
Polaroid PhotoMAX Digital Camera With MP3 Player | ||
 You have to have two things when you travel: a camera and a CD player. Polaroid wants to halve that number with its PhotoMAX digital camera, which combines its picture-taking capability with an MP3 player. This is an eye-catching camera, housed in a transparent blue case and accompanied by a big handful of accessories. Among the goodies are a 16MB CompactFlash memory card, USB (Universal Serial Bus) and video cables, camera carrying case, and earphones with volume control built into the cord. These gadgets alone tip you off to the fact this product creates many possibilities. We started by testing the camera function. It doesn't boast any outstanding features, with a top resolution of only 640 x 480 and a lens that focuses from 2 feet to infinity. These specifications produce grainy photos that will probably appeal only to people taking casual snapshots. Colors were adequately portrayed, but again, the photos you take with the PhotoMAX will be barely Web-worthy. The PhotoMAX Image Maker software features a simple interface that should appeal to people who aren't familiar with imaging programs. Polaroid makes one odd request before you connect the camera to the PC: You must open the lens cover to activate the camera's power, which means exposing the delicate lens even though it won't be in use. But our biggest gripe about this camera was its rotating plastic control dial. It's so hard to turn that you have to use a lot of force, causing you to accidentally skip one or two functions when it finally budges. This ridiculous problem takes a lot of getting used to. We did like the video cable that Polaroid includes with this product. Just flip your TV to the proper channel, and you can view your photos right on the screen. Plus, camera settings are easy to control via the LCD (liquid-crystal display) monitor. The MP3 functions are also simple to use, courtesy of the familiar CD-player type controls atop the camera. You load music files onto the camera through the USB cable, and you can instantly connect the headphones and listen to your heart's desire. The biggest problem is memory; the puny 16MB memory card won't hold more than a few minutes of music, meaning you might be able to load one or two songs. And forget leaving a photo or two on the card at the same time; there just wouldn't be enough room. This means that to get any real usefulness from the MP3 player you'll have to instantly upgrade to a much larger CompactFlash card, making the PhotoMAX much costlier than the initial $229 price tag. But despite its shortcomings, this is an imaginative device that is a lot of fun to use if you're willing to indulge it with a better memory card. by Nathan Chandler
$229 Polaroid (800) 432-5355 (781) 386-2000 http://www.polaroid.com
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