2. Camera Tour

The M437 measures 3.8" X 2.4" X 1.0" (lens closed) and weighs in at 6.4 oz. (182g), which includes a pair of AA alkaline batteries and an SD memory card. It’s rated at 5MP, but through the camera setup menu, you can choose from one of five image quality levels. The default is 5MP at normal quality. This setting uses the maximum resolution with medium compression. There’s also a "Best" quality which also uses the highest resolution, but with minimal compression. You can also choose 3MP, 1MP or VGA (640X480 pixels). Each of these choices also uses medium compression. As you scroll through the choices, the display shows you the approximate number of images that you can expect with the remaining available memory.

Photosmart M427 Image quality settings. Pictures remaining shows you the approximate number of pictures you’ll get for each quality choice.

The top of the camera is simple. There’s an on On/Off button with a blue LED and the shutter release. On the bottom of the camera, there’s a standard tripod mount, a USB connection for transferring your files and a battery door. The battery door opens to reveal the card slot for an SD memory card as well as the slots for the two AA batteries. The camera comes with 16 MB of built in memory - about enough for five photos at best quality or about 50 images at VGA. It automatically detects an SD card and switches over to it by default if a card is inserted. The camera supports up to 2 GB of SD memory. Markings on the plastic indicate which way to insert the batteries. The user guide goes into a lot of detail about which kind of battery is best for different types of shooting. Suffice to say that while the camera will operate on AA alkalines, either NiMH or photo lithium batteries are preferred.

HP Photosmart rear view

The rear of the camera has a number of simple controls. In the upper left corner, above the 2.0" (dia.) screen, there’s a button with a trash can icon. In playback mode, you can delete an individual picture, all pictures or all pictures except for those tagged as favorites. You can also format the memory card in playback mode.

The M437 has four flash modes.

To the right of the trash can button, there’s a button for controlling the flash. You have the option of Auto, Red eye, Flash On or Flash Off. Some shooting modes, such as the theater mode, disable the flash.

To change between modes, the M437 uses a three-position slider switch. This switch changes between playback mode, movie mode and still picture mode. The zoom control is located in the upper right corner on the rear of the camera - an ideal location for use with your right thumb. In still capture mode, you can zoom in your subject. As you reach the 3X limit of the camera’s optical zoom, zooming stops. Thereafter, if you press the zoom button again, a yellow box appears in the viewfinder. As you continue to zoom in using the digital zoom, the camera actually is cropping the picture, and shows you the effective megapixels of your zoomed image. If you zoom too far, the yellow box turns red, and you get a warning that print quality may be compromised. In playback mode, the zoom control allows you to zoom in/out on your images or change to a nine-image thumbnail view.

Below the zoom button is a four-way navigation button with a center "Menu/OK" button. The four-way button allows you to navigate through the menu system, or scroll through your pictures in playback mode. The Menu/OK button opens the menu system and allows you to select features. Finally there’s a "back" button that allows you to cancel your selection. It’s like the ESC key on your computer.