TinyCams Review |
Aiptek PocketCam X |
PocketCam X by AIPTEK Returns to MarketNovember 7, 2003. - AIPTEK is once again offering the PocketCam X digital camera. Earlier this year sale of this model had been halted. Insiders reported that production had been suspended because of problems with the built in flash. No official information is available however it is presumed that the faulty flash has been resolved. The new version sports a black sliding cover that turns the camera on and off as well as protects the lens and flash.The original version of this camera had a silver cover (shown in images here). This can be helpful to buyers who would be wise to avoid paying too much for a camera with a flash that will most likely fail. Of course, if you don't need the flash, you may be able to pick up one of these really neat cameras really cheap! AIPTEK Introduces New Model Then Takes It Off Their Web Site!August 7, 2003. - AIPTEK, makers of a number of inexpensive digital cameras, halted distribution of their latest digital camera just about one month after they started shipping. The PocketCam X, retailing for $139 on the company's web site was reported to be selling well. In fact, the Pre-Sale special ($119 including shipping) was so successful that they sold out!I considered myself to be one of the luky people to have taken advantage of the pre-sale offer in early July. UNFORTUNATELY, one month later the built-in flash suddenly failed at the worst possible moment! I pulled out my little jewel to shoot some photos at a little family party celibrating our daughter's 21st birthday. With the candles lit and fresh batteries ready the flash failed to do it's part. I had to fall back on my old Sony MCD-CD1000. After exhausting all the possible combinations of settings and even returning to the default configuration, I e-mailed AIPTEK to ask for help. In a reasonable amount of time they responded, requesting the order number on my shipping documents. Fortunately I saved everything. They responded with sad news. They have decided to halt sales of this particular camera because so many units were being returned with problems. To their credit they offered me a choice. I could accept a returned {used) camera that has been checked for proper operation, or they would give me a full refund. I opted to accept their replacement because I am really fond of the little camera. The Bad News is that if you were interested in purchasing one yourself, you're probably out of luck. The Good News is that Sony's U20 is almost identical and seems to still be on the market at a somewhat higher retail price. hmmmm. Give AIPTEK credit for having more integrety than most camera distributers in business these days. They could have continued selling PocketCam X cameras in hopes that the factory would work out the problems. Instead they are doing their best to support their customers. I for one will continue to purchase products from AIPTEK. Ah what a tragedy to die so young! I've left my review online for now, in memory of a camera that I really liked. AIPTEK is now offering a similar although larger TinyCam they call a Fidelity 3200 at AIPTEK.COM If you really want a version of this camera, Dolphin now has a version of this little jewel on Dolphinfast.com. |
| --------Original Model Out of Production----------
The shiney new silver brick (shown above), sports a TFT LCD that measures 1.5 inches diagonally (postage stamp size). Slide the little, SILVER lens cover open to turn on the camera. It shoots 1600 x 1200 pixel images and can be hardware enhanced to 2048 x 1538. You can also select 1280 x 960 if you're low on memory. It supports SD and MMC type flash memory cards with 16 meg of flash memory built in. I plugged a 64 meg SD card into the slot under the battery door. According to the manual I'm ready to shoot 120 normal or 80 hardware enhanced photos. My X also has a built in flash and can date stamp my photos! (date but no time) Features most other TinyCams don't offer. So it's a little over my usual $100 limit. I LOVE IT!!! The on-screen menu lets you set the internal clock, turn the flash on or off, set white balance and choose Auto Exposure or Back-Light. You can set your camera to shoot Normal, B&W, Clasic, or Solarized images. (I never understood why anyone would want the camera to do that when image editors do such a better job) AND you can turn the infernal BEEP off! Select close-up or normal focus settings using a switch on one end, next to the USB port. The "X" has 4x digital zoom although in my experience, digital zooms are not very useful. And the "X" takes movies with sound for those of you who are amused by such things. My 64 meg SD card will store 8 minutes of video. |
| Missing is the little optical view finder. That means that in bright sunlight you'll struggle to frame your photos through the postage stamp sized LCD. It also means you'll burn lots of AAA batteries while taking photos. The menu does allow you to turn the display off to conserve battery power but you'll have to guess what you're pointing at. I also found it dissappointing that AIPTEK didn't include the ability to attach the camera to a TV or VCR. These features were included in their earlier model. And while you can preview your little movies right on the built in LCD, you can't listen to the voices because AIPTEK couldn't find room for a speaker! I guess that's okay 'cause I have enough voices in my head already. "No you don't." "SHUT UP!". |
| The new "X" is just slightly bigger than the popular AIPTEK Mini 1.3 camera. The new camera is configured to be held horizontally like most traditional cameras. The AIPTEK Mini was held vertically and was often uncomfortable for people with big hands or full sized fingers. |
| "Hey! What about the resolution?" you ask. Well, that's pretty interesting. AIPTEK is holding the technical information close to the vest. First of all, the manual does not say if the camera has a CMOS sensor or a more expensive and superior CCD chip. Assume it's CMOS technology. While the marketing says images "Up to 3 megapixels" the camera seems to have a 2 megapixel sensor and uses "hardware enhancement" to achieve the higher setting. Now it's not clear what "hardware enhancement" means. My interpretation is that they have a hardware chip with firmware that fills in and pads pixels to what the lens records. My AIPTEK Mini offered image enhancement in the image manager on my PC. Is "hardware enhancement" better? To me it's all marketing. By building the enhancement into the camera they can stretch the truth in their ads. This is a 2 megapixel camera pretending to be 3 megapixels. Shame on you AIPTEK!
UPDATE! I e-mailed AIPTEK and complained that the information was confusing if not outright deceptive. To they're credit, they responded within hours with an apology. They said the information on the web site was a "typo" and they corrected it ...on one page at least. Now AIPTEP.COM says the resolution is (Interpolated) 2048 x 1536 and that the (True Sensor) 1600 x 1200. A small victory. |
| In conclusion, I love it! Click HERE to see some random photos I shot with this great little camera. I'm a happy little gadget freak! It has a lot of features found in more expensive digital cameras. The AIPTEK PocketCam X looks just like a Sony U 20. It also looks like a AIPTEK PocketCam Slim 3 Mega with a flash stuffed in. I guess they found room by shortening the name. On camera flash is nice. I expected lots of red-eye problems since there's only a few millimeters between the lens and the flash. But red-eye isn't realy bad. Unfortunately he flash is too bright for close-up photos while it's too weak for anything further than 6 feet away. AIPTEK also makes a Pocket 3 Mega camera that has the flash, the LCD, 4X zoom, SD card support, and the old fashioned viewfinder. It also can display images on a TV or VCR. All for $99! This may be a better buy. |
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