Full review posted for Sony CD Mavica MVC-CD250! (UPDATED)
By
Mike Tomkins
(Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 18:03 EST)
Low-cost CD-based digital camera gets the full "Dave Treatment"...
Dave here: Sony's CD Mavica concept made quite a stir when the original MVC-CD1000 appeared almost two years ago now. Last year, they updated and extended the line with the CD200 and CD300. This year, they've both moved the line down in price, and up in features and capabilities. The first new model is the MVC-CD250, a two megapixel successor to the CD200, aimed at bringing CD Mavica technology down the price curve, without sacrificing features. (Introductory price is stated as "around $600.")
Feature-wise, the CD250 is very similar to the CD200 before it, but with two important additions. First, it has a huge (about 8 frame) buffer memory, so cycle times are *very* good. What's more, the buffer memory allowed a "confirm before write" mode, in which you can examine each photo after you take it, to decide whether you want to burn it onto the CD or not. Both of these features topped the list of requests from former CD Mavica owners, and constitute a big boost to the technology, IMHO.
The other significant addition is that these latest CD Mavicas use Sonys new MPEG HQX technology to permit continuous video recording direct to the CD. - This gives nearly 6 minutes of highest-quality video (with audio), and as much as 89 minutes (!) in the low-resolution "SQ" mode. Zounds! Not quite a digital camcorder (Sonys dedicated camcorders capture higher quality video and (particularly) audio, and are more versatile as well), but it's still a long step in the direction of true "convergence" products. Very cool, check the review for all the details!
UPDATED 2002-02-20 18:30ET: Our friends at Steve's Digicams have now posted their own MVC-CD250 first look...
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