Digital Concepts 3.1MP Digital Camera
By: Sakar Average Rating: 2.0 Total Reviews: 28
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 On: 2008-02-28
My son reveived this camera as a Christmas present and it is absolute junk. Kills batteries, loses my sons photos and trying to use it with a SD card is difficult, at best. Just glad it was my ex-mother-in-laws money that was wasted. Pay attention to other reviewers and spend a few extra bucks for a real camera!
On: 2007-01-18
This is the worst waste of money I ever spent. I bought it for my 10-year old, thinking it would be a fun camera and I would spend less money developing the tons of silly pictures that kids take. It eats batteries like there is no tomorrow. You can take only about of dozen photos before the batteries are used up. Ive spent a fortune on batteries and even tried rechargeable batteries. Even when the camera is not being used, the the batteries die in about 24 hours. On top of all of that, indoor pictures are the worst quality I have EVER seen -- grainy & washed out colors, and if you use a flash, everything is way overexposed & white. TOTALLY WORTHLESS piece of garbage. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!
On: 2006-08-03
Spend twice as much on a digital camera, and youll probably get ten times the value - steer clear of this cheapo camera.
On: 2006-07-22
haha..so i bought..*cough cough stole* this thing..
with usb.cd.and instructions and still it blowed...really bad..i feels orry for your nimrods who actually paid for it..haha
 On: 2006-05-12
I bought this back in February at Wal-Mart for about $60. I had not researched it, but my Logitech QuickCam settings display died and I wanted a new camera. This one was an upgrade as it has a color LCD display with photo preview. My old camera only displayed system options. A flash was also necessary.
I thought this camera was sucking battery power more than it should. It doesnt matter what kind of batteries I use - standard Energizer alkaline, rechargables specifically for digital cameras, whatever... I put them in (because everytime I go to use the camera, theyre dead after I just put new ones or freshly charged ones in last time I used it a week before) - I take about 10 pix, w/flash, download them to my computer (since I kept losing the pix I left after use) - which takes power too because you have to turn the camera on even when its connected to the computer - and make sure its off when Im done. Then a week later its dead when I go to use it! So you have to set the date every time you use it (if you want the date on your photos), and as all the others say, if you dont download the pix immediately, they are lost when the batteries die (it does say this in the manual). I just bought a SD card so that the pix would remain, but honestly, if this camera wouldnt suck batteries WHEN OFF an external card shouldnt be necessary.
Again as others have mentioned, in a dark room, you cant see the object you wish to photograph in the LCD display. It seems to come out OK with the flash in the actual photo, but many photos with flash are just totally out of balance. My orange cat comes out white! Yes there are options, but unless you know how to use them, they are useless - and you would have to take the picture again after changing the settings - which uses the ever-depleting batteries. After about 10 photos with flash, the batteries are 1/2 dead and it wont let you use the flash anymore. I dont even take high-resolution or high-quality photos.
Also - another reviewer stated he was having problems getting the SD card out - you cant just pull it out. Hold the camera with the bottom up and the SD card on the left side - the finger dip should be towards you - and use your thumbnail to push it in and it should pop out. Its a push-in pop-out spring system. If it doesnt pop out right away, just practice and it should loosen up, mine did.
I recommend you wait until you can save up some extra cash for a better camera. And always research before you buy.
 On: 2006-04-06
i bought this camera at walmart for $60 roughly 9 months ago.
it was a step up from my last camera because it had a lcd, flash, and higher res. on the downside it doesnt have a microphone. it does not take very good photos in low lighting conditions and the flash is too powerful for most instances
id include a picture but they are all on my other computer
i wouldnt recommend this camera for anything indoors or anything short of broad daylight. also the flash uses up most of the batteries and the 3 AAAs dont last very long (get rechargeables) the only use i can see for this camera is pictures on bicycle rides or walks during the day otherwise it is quite useless. the main thing that really turned me away was that it (or at least mine) had little gray stripes accross the image and a lack of saturation of color. i sent it back to get the screen fixed (at least the tech support is decent) and i am thinking of getting a kodak c330 and selling it here.
On: 2006-03-24
If only I had read these reviews BEFORE I bought this camera...
I can only confirm what everyone else says: 1) the camera comsumes batteries even when it is off; 2) it deletes pictures in its internal memory when it loses battery power; 3) it will not operate with rechargeable Ni-MH AAA batteries - at least mine wouldnt!
However, I would like to offer one compliment to Sakar, the manufacturer. Their customer service was very good. I contacted them (figuring that I had a defective camera) and they provided a replacement when I sent the first one in - it cost me a couple of bucks in shipping and I got a replacement in about 10 days. Only problem, the replacement camera is no better than the original. Obviously, the whole design is defective.
As with the others, my advice is to spend your money elsewhere.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-03-18
I Boght this camera for scouts, and it worked ok for outdoor pictures but the flash is to bright to use inside and if the rooms to dark you lose your picture. then this morning(a few mouths later) it died on me.
On: 2006-03-18
My brother won this camera at work (It must have been a booby prize). He was unwilling to even give it away because it looked so CHEAP (frankly I think it looks like it should sell for $12.99 - before the $20 rebate)!
Regardless, I wrangled it from him for the $5 shipping cost. Ahhh..., yea, if youve gotten this far I would agree with all the negative stuff said. Most of the pictures look washed out, and even Photoshop can only help that so much. I did buy the NiMi batteries, took about 6 pictures (no flash), downloaded them and three days latter the batteries were dead!!! Even with the best of batteries this thing sucks the power when not on.
So if you are foolish enough to spend $60 on this rather than spending an extra $40 on a "real" camera here are your options:
1. Quickly take pictures and immediately download them, then remove the batteries. Next time you need to take pictures repeat the process.
2. Buy batteries to last a month of which the cost will exceed buying a better camera. And, oh, yea, if you dont immediately download the pictures well, they surely wont be there when you install the new batteries - anyway. Which might I add forces you to basically follow step one in the first place.
OK, you have been warned. If I see anyone posting that they bought this product you deserve the misery you get. It is products like this that somehow take the fear out of "inexpensive Chinese goods" dominating the world. On the other hand it very well could be a communist plot to drive Americans loony!
Manufacturing products like this should bring criminal prosecution. Why? Because those that likely can only pony up the cash to buy this... trash, are the ones that can least afford to be ripped off.
Just to review;
You get a total of 4 pictures on the 16 megs of built in memory at the best setting.
You get maybe 24 hours on the best batteries if you leave them in the camera.
You pretty much better download shortly after taking the pictures (the few that you can).
The flash is worthless (except to possibly blind an intruder), but then you better have charged batteries (and be a quick loader) to do that.
*** Late News Update***
I just put a flash memory card in this "item" and it looks like I will have to break the camera apart to get it out. It may be the wisest thing I do!!!
Tormented Tom
On: 2006-03-02
Recently I bought a brand new camera with the complete sealed package from the web, however, the flash did not work at all. So now I used it to take only outdoor photos since I got it really cheap. I also realized that it worked fine only with alkaline batteries, and it used up at least two pack of regular AAA batteries a day when I tried to set up the menu.
On: 2006-02-27
1. Batteries last about 12 hours, even if you have a flash card.
2. It keeps erasing photos. My daughter lost 1/2 of her vacation pictures. If we didnt save them with in a couple of hours, 1/2 of the time they would be erased, even those on the flash card.
Spend another 100 bucks and get a real camera.
On: 2006-02-24
Not a bad camera for under $60. You do get what you pay for, but if you actually read the manual and learn how to use it some of the issues people complain about wont happen. 1. USE LITHIUM OR RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES WITH ANY DIGITAL CAMERA!!!!!! It does have a button to turn the display on and off to help save battery life, I have 4 other cameras and that is one of the first things you should learn. 2. The issue of washed out pics with the flash? Start with page 19 in the manual and then read page 20, it tells you how to correct it with the White Balance and the Exposure settings. Is this comparable to a Canon in quality? No, but it beats a Vivitar by a mile. Its a DECENT 3.1 megapixel camera, if you want more, then spend the extra $40 and get the Kodak.
On: 2006-02-17
I wish I could give this "camera" zero stars. Works sporadically. We put new batteries in, but even then it would choose when to power up. The company sent us a new one when we complained to them that the old one didnt work. Turns out the new one didnt either, and suffered from the exact same problems. Sounds like people are having other problems with it too. Do not buy this camera.
On: 2006-02-16
I dont wanna go giving this a negative feedback bcuz it does its job as far as taking pictures and you cant expect much outta the price you paid for it. You know the saying ... You Get What You Paid For ? Well, its pretty much true in my experiences. You go froogle and try to save a penny here and there and you end up with what you paid for a cheap junk. I agree this camera sucks up a lot of battery as others have said. I purchased this camera today as a temporary one until I have saved enough money to get the real expensive one which I know wont disappoint me. But I accidentally dropped this camera on a light drop and bcuz of the plastic case it got some ugly scratches on the side. As far as picture taking the screen is pitch black so you dont exactly know if your picture is centered before you take it and the person has to hold the pose even after the flash went off or else the movement after the original pose will be taken instead. Which truly sucks !! I say this camera aint too shabby for the price. I saw a camera next to this one exact price but it didnt have a LCD screen. So theres a advantage. It could of probably been made a little more high quality but then again remember you get what you paid for so ... no complaints here. I give is a C- at best ! (=_=")
 On: 2006-01-23
People need to understand price does matter in product come on people its an 80 dollar camera. Anyways spend 10 dollars on lithium batteries which will last you for a while, like meaning a month or so. Also, buy an SD card for 10 dollars and no more lost photos. Oh yeah dont compare this too cameras that cost triple this price because its obvious the more expensive is better. Also, this camera needs alot of light to take pictures. If your that obsessed with getting the best picture ever buy somehting that will cost you an arm and a leg. Anyways this camera is light and portable, the software is actually simple (oh yeah and while using the software there are words that will tell what each icon does.) And it works as a short video recorder and a web cam, indeed very handy. If you want to capture moments in life but dont care that you can see 20 miles of backround then buy this. Makes a good present for kids and teenagers who want an easy to use camera. If you do not fit the description, otherwise avoid.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-01-19
Well, people at first I thought this camera sucked since I got it and it wasted the batteries so quickly. But has anyone ever thought of buying RECHARGEABLE batteries! It really helps the camera and lets you take more pix. Now I think it is a good camera. I am only 11 and got this for X-Mas also. I think that the people that said it sucked are wrong. People should buy rechargeable batteries if they want their camera to last longer. Any camera will waste batteries quickly. So if u buy this camera, u can bye it at Wal-Mart for like $57.00 and tax. It comes out to be like $64.00. Once you bye it get rechargeable batteries for $8.00(at any store.) and then the camera will last long. U will be happy. :-)
On: 2006-01-13
It eats batteries, had poor picture quality, and is very cheaply made. The only reason I give it 2 stars is because it is so inexpensive. Bought this at the Wal-Mart one evening and returned it the very next morning. Huge disappointment. My advice is that if your gonna spend your money on something as expensive as a digital camera, make it quality, name brand one.
On: 2006-01-10
I have noticed and talked to several people with the same problem I found the manufacters website for a friend with the drivers here is the link http://www2.sakar.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=5 it is the third one down.
by: Anonymous On: 2005-12-31
i THINK THAT THIS CAMERA HAS GREAT PICTURE QUALITY AND HAS A VERY LARGE SCREEN. iT IS LIGHT ENOUGH THAT i CAN CARY IT IN MY POCKET AND SMALL ENOUGH TOO. iT IS A VERY VERSITILE CAMERA
On: 2005-12-27
Got this for a Christmas present...awful awful awful...did I say AWFUL??? Everything that you read about this camera is true....
Poor indoor pictures...
Eats batteries left and right...even when it is off...
Cheaply made product all together....
You have been warned....
On: 2005-12-26
This digital camera is definately not a good one to get. I installed the software to get the pictures to my computer and it worked all of twice before I had to reinstall the software plus the drivers. And then the drivers wouldnt reinstall. I havent been able to find a manufacturers site so that i could re download the drivers...to no avail.
Camera consumes a lot of battery power. And it doesnt take pictures well indoors. Even having the flash on doesnt help much.
On: 2005-11-28
-The flash on this camera floods the picture with so much reflective light nothing in the pic is recognizable.
-Indoor shots taken without the flash are usually as dark as dark can possibly get, although sometimes a nice fuzzy brown image appears.
-Unless your hand is as steady as a rock expect to have a double exposure effect in your shots.
-Skip lunch for a day or two so you can afford to buy batteries for this power-draining device.
This camera is NO BARGAIN regardless where it is purchased. My opinion may have been somewhat different if it cost $35-$45, a reasonable price range for one of the lowest of all low-end products.
On: 2005-11-26
If youre thinking of buying this for a nice gift/Christmas present, just say no! Heres why:
This camera goes through a set of batteries in literally less than an hour. And even if you turn it off, it really doesnt turn off ever - the batteries will *still* be dead within a few hours (with all pictures forever lost if you didnt have them saved on an SD card).
I bought this camera for a trip to the Grand Canyon. Probable scenario if I had taken it along: Hike for 1-3 hours, taking pictures. Halfway back to the car the batteries die and all photos are lost.
No thanks. I bought a Kodak C300 instead for only $30 more, looks to have nearly identical functionality but already I can see the image quality is much better. So long as the batteries can last even a day or two in this one, Ill be a happy camper.
On: 2005-07-13
Great Starter Camera.
I like the fact I can make movies on it.
great picture quality, when you have it set on High .
Better pics on the Smaller Pixle Mode I have Found.
I love the LCD screen, very easy to See and the camera is so easy to use.I bought rechargeable batteries for it, and they are lasting just fine.
Softwear is sooo easy to install... every thing is plug and play.
best feature... its under $60.00 at Wal-Mart!
To me, a great Buy...
You do get what you pay for.
Good Luck!
On: 2005-06-29
I bought this camera for my 6 year old daughter who loves to take pictures. We bought the SD card also. We tested it out before going to Disney World for vacation and it worked great. We could download to the computer and all. She could do it all herself. After 3 days of vacation picture taking we went to download the pictures and we got the battery low warning and the next thing we knew, the pictures all disappeared. They were on the SD card and we could display them but for some reason when we went to download them they disappeared. So, we tried again. After she would take some pictures I would make sure they were there by putting the camera on display mode and all looked good. After 2 days I went to check the pictures before hooking it up to the computer and they were there one minute and then the battery low came on and poof, they all disappeared again. We then gave our daughter a disposable 35mm camera to finish our trip. She lost over 100 pictures. I dont have any of the packaging but intend to try and take it back. It is a shame because it seemed like such a nice camera for our 6 year old.
On: 2005-06-17
I bought one of these cameras at Wal-Mart and returned it the next day as not only useless but frustratingly useless. My computer could access the camera as a pair of USB flash drives, and pull photos off the camera that way, until I installed the cameras software. With the vendor software installed, photos could not be retrieved from the camera at all. The vendor software also did not fully uninstall, so its installation marked the end of my ability to get photos off the camera. The camera went through a set (3) of Duracell Ultra batteries in a little over six hours, with less than a dozen test photos. I called the vendors technical support line (a toll call) and spent 30 minutes on hold before giving up, having never spoken to anyone. All in all, both product and vendor support are excruciatingly shoddy.
On: 2005-06-03
I too bought this thing at WalMart because I wanted something inexpensive. I found it takes reasonably decent outdoor photographs: blue skies with a bit of cloud come out particularly well. Its compactness, that it fits in a pocket, is nice.
The labels for the buttons started rubbing off right away. It does seem susceptible to shakiness. The batteries do drain quickly. It needs an SD memory card to hold more than a few photos.
On: 2005-05-05
This is a review of this product: Digital Concepts 89379 3.1MP Digital Camera. Amazon may display this review on the page of another version of this product, for which this review may not apply. After reading this review, please click on the link so that you can be assurred that the product this review applies to is the same one you thought it was for.
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I bought this camera because I needed one solely for taking photos of the items I sell on the internet. I didnt want to spend a lot of money (read: over $100) on a digital camera, so when I saw this at Wal-Mart for $60, and saw that it had a built-in flash, I figured that this would do the trick. Even though its a cheap camera, I figured that it should be able to handle such a simple and undemanding task as taking photos indoors of various little and big items. Boy was I wrong.
This camera takes VERY POOR picture indoors, even though it has a built-in flash. In fact, the flash makes the pictures worse. Pictures taken with the flash appear all washed out.
Unless you hold the camera incredibly steady, you risk having shaky pictures. Half the photos I took were shaky, even though I held the camera as still and steady as possible. The camera has a hole on the bottom where a tripod can be inserted. I highly suggest you use one, if at all possible.
It consumes battery power at a fast rate. I put new batteries in it and within a few hours it started complaining that the battery was low. When it prompts "Low Battery," it doesnt let you use the flash (how annoying!). It uses 3 AAA batteries, but has no adapter for house current, so youre forced to feed it more batteries. It even uses up battery power when youre not using it at all. I had a set of 3 brand new AAA batteries sitting in it for two weeks, while the camera was just sitting in its opened packaging. When I went to use it again, first I saw defects in the preview screen, then eventually the camera would keep shutting off as soon as I would turn it on. Thus I was required to put another set of three brand new AAA batteries in it.
It has a 16MB built-in flash memory which requires a constant electric current to store your photos. Should the camera lose power (for instance if the batteries die or are removed), all stored pictures will be lost. Sakar recommends always downloading your photos to your computer as soon as possible to prevent unintentional data loss. I recommend not buying this camera unless you have a SD card or buy one along with the camera (luckily I did). The SD card supercedes the built-in memory, so all photos are saved onto the card instead, where they will not be lost because of the power supply.
The package comes with the camera, instruction manual (which is easy to understand, if somewhat poorly written), drivers disc (with PhoTags software), USB wire (to connect the camera to your computer), and a hand strap. Although the manual tells you first that the PhoTags software is needed to transfer the photos to your computer, if you continue reading youll learn that it isnt. In fact, you can use the camera without installing PhoTags at all. The driver installation is located on the CD at: \\drivers\\setup.exe. Once installed, when you connect your camera to your PC, it will appear as another drive on your computer (two drives if you have a SD card in it). Then you can just copy, move, and delete the photos on it from Windows Explorer or whatever way you normally work with your computer files. I dont know if its just me, but I found that Windows kept reinstalling the drivers every time I connected the camera to it. That got very annoying real quick, especially when once it made me get out my Windows 2000 CD.
You *might* need PhoTags to use the camera as a webcam, but then again, you can probably find some other software on the internet (maybe for free) that will let you do that as well (and maybe even better).
In case youre wondering, PhoTags is a rather useless program to organize photos (to a certain degree), add text and captions to them (which can be turned on and off using "Active Captions" technology - software required on the computers of anyone you send your photos to), make minor corrections (such as red eye removal), and do simple photo print projects (calendars, greetings cards, postcards, etc.). Two of the photo projects are non-existant: Album Creator and Video CD Creator. When you click on either of them, you are taken to the PhoTags website where you are prompted to buy the full version for $10 to add these two features.
Although I didnt expect to get a top-of-the-line digital camera for $60, I did expect to get something that would take decent photos indoors. I guess Ill have to keep looking.
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