Hewlett Packard R742 Review

The stylish Hewlett-Packard R742 couples a 3x HP Precision-branded lens with a seven megapixel imager, and provides a 2.5 inch LCD display for image framing or review. Like most HP digital cameras, there's no optical viewfinder, unfortunately.

HP keeps it simple with the R742. Shooting modes include Action, Auto (default), Close-up, Landscape, Night Portrait, Portrait, Steady Photo, Sunset and Theatre, but practically every other setting including white balance, metering mode and ISO sensitivity is fully automatic. There is however a four mode built-in flash and a 10 second self-timer. Other HP R742 features include in-camera red-eye removal, HP Design Gallery (borders, colors), and a 320 x 240 pixel, 24 frames-per-second movie mode with audio.

Images captured on the HP Photosmart R742 are transferred to your computer over a USB 1.1 connection, rather slower than the USB 2.0 High Speed connections offered on most current cameras. The R742 derives its power from a proprietary Lithium Ion rechargeable battery, and a charger/AC adapter is included in the bundle. The HP R742 is covered by a 1 year warranty, comes with HP Photosmart software and is Windows Vista ready.

The Hewlett-Packard Photosmart R742 is priced at US$179.99 and ships from August 2007.