Digital Cameras : RCA CDS1005

This camera is wonderful. It\'s got a low resoulition, so it\'s a little impractical to expect high-quality photos from it. I wouldn\'t nessesarally take my vactation photos on it, but I use it when I want to grab an image fast, to remember what something might look like, etc. And I also use it for ebay auctions and sending photos via e-mail.

The best part of the camera is that it can connect to any TV with an RCA video-in jack, meaning you can show the pictures on just about any TV. Not only that, but you can hook it directly up to a digital projector and use it for a slide show presentation without having to use a laptop. A little-known fact is that you can load images onto the camera, so you can take screenshots of power-point presentations and save them as JPG files on the camera. Then just attach the RCA cord from the camera to a digital projector or a TV. Great for people who don\'t have a laptop, but have a job where they meet clients and need to show them some form of presentation. For example, a real-estate ageant would love this camera.

So basically, this isn\'t a digital camera you would want to make prints off of, but great for anything else. Many people forget that you don\'t need a high-end camera if you don\'t need high quality print-outs.

Other advantages of it would be it\'s size. Very small, about 3"x2"x1". It doesn\'t have a preview screen that would find on a high-end/avarage digital camera, but that\'s usally not a big problem if you have a TV near by.

It\'s very simple and so is the software. When you have it plugged-into a USB port, the USB port will power the camera to save your batteries while downloading images.

This camera does what it was built to do, and at a very good price. Not all cameras fit all needs, but give this one a chance and you might find that it does what you need it to do. Hide Full Review

I have to say it's an OK camera for a beginner outside in the clearest driest weather you can find where the pics aren't bad. Don't expect it to function well in low light or overcast skies. It WILL NOT take any indoor pictures at all for any reason whatsoever, they just turn out blurry and spotted at times. Also it starts out at 32 pics available in the memory bank mine is currently only able to hold 20 and I know of some that can only hold as little as 6. What's up with that??? Keep a good supply of batteries on hand it eats them up incredibly fast for an 0.3 megapixel camera. If you own a computer loaded with XP forget about using it to upload your images, it will not support the camera's drivers because they are so outdated, I had to write my own configurations for it so it would load into my new computer. There is no preview window on it and the settings are very hard to operate. If you own a PictBridge enabled printer do't try using this one on it, again it will not support it. It has a webcam function, but like everything else on this camera it's pretty much useless. There is one upside to this camera however, I dropped mine from the hosebed of a Fire Engine, about a nine foot fall, and it stayed intact and continued to function so they are structually sturdy. Bottom line though is for $100 there are way better cameras out there that are way easier to use an I'm glad I only paid $20 for mine when I got it. Hide Full Review

Although this little camera doesn\'t have that large of resolution, it works great for pics you want to email or store on the web. I haven\'t had any trouble using mine. It\'s very handy to carry around since it\'s not that big and batteries last a long time. Hide Full Review