Sony DSC-P1

Review Sony has always had a knack when it comes to consumer devices, and the DSC-P1 is no exception. Small, capable and easy to use, it stands out as more than just a PC peripheral.

The DSC-P1 is a 3.3Mp (megapixel) camera, allowing a maximum resolution of 2048x1536. As usual, images can be stored as either JPEG or TIFF files. However, you'll need to upgrade the 8MB Memory Stick if you want to use the latter setting, as it won't even hold one picture. Knock the setting down to JPEG, though, and it can store between five and 118 photos, depending on your chosen resolution.

MPEG support has been thrown in too, allowing you to shoot short video clips. However, at a maximum recording time of 15 seconds per clip and a default size of 160x112, you won’t be able to do much with the results.

The DSC-P1 includes an email mode, which snaps a 320x240 thumbnail along with the main image. This is useful if you want a simple way to send people your pictures without messing around in an image editor. You can record a five-second voice clip to accompany each picture, and there's also a black-and-white GIF setting for text documents. The PC side of things is handled by a copy of MGI PhotoSuite for images and VideoWave SE for MPEG clips.

Getting images off the camera is painless - simply plug in the USB cable and the Memory Stick appears as a new drive in Explorer. The DSC-P1 also features a 'stamina' battery, which is basically a lithium-ion battery that promises up to 1700 snaps between charges.

Sony has put together a quality camera that's easy to use and produces great looking pictures. It could have been a bit more generous with the storage, but 8MB is sufficient for you to get started. ®

Info

Price: £595
Contact: 08705 111 999
Website: www.sony.co.uk

Specs

Max resolution: 2048x1536
Memory Stick: 8MB
Viewfinder: 1.5in colour LCD
Optical zoom: 3x (6x digital)
Battery: lithium-ion
Weight: 250g

This review is taken from the August 2001 issue. All details correct at time of publication.

Copyright © 2001, IDG. All rights reserved.