Review: Its 2.5-inch LCD may look like it belongs on a handheld PDA, but this compact 5.1-megapixel photomachine is all camera, with enough manual settings to please nascent enthusiasts, and most of the automated features snapshooters can't live without. A crisp 3X optical zoom, excellent macro capabilities, and a relatively high-powered MPEG movie mode make the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-W1 fun to drive. Unfortunately, several flaws, including relatively average performance, overly processed images, and the absence of some common scene modes (such as one for fast action and sports) keep this Sony from getting higher marks.
Editor's ...
Expand full review Its 2.5-inch LCD may look like it belongs on a handheld PDA, but this compact 5.1-megapixel photomachine is all camera, with enough manual settings to please nascent enthusiasts, and most of the automated features snapshooters can't live without. A crisp 3X optical zoom, excellent macro capabilities, and a relatively high-powered MPEG movie mode make the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-W1 fun to drive. Unfortunately, several flaws, including relatively average performance, overly processed images, and the absence of some common scene modes (such as one for fast action and sports) keep this Sony from getting higher marks.
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more. Since the jumbo 2.5-inch LCD occupies about 75 percent of the rear surface of the DSC-W1, there's not a whole lot of room for controls, but what's there is intelligently placed and easy to access. The rear controls include an LCD control, a button that serves as both a resolution control and a quick-delete key, and a small but efficient cursor key/set button cluster. Three of the cursor buttons do double duty to adjust flash options, macro settings, and the self-timer.
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Sony Cyber Shot DSC-V1.
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DSC-T1, is large enough that you can carefully compose shots without eyestrain. There's enough space on the screen for a readable live histogram without crowding the usual array of status indicators. This is one camera that will tempt you to use the LCD rather than the smallish optical viewfinder for most photos, indoors or out. The screen does become difficult to view under direct sunlight, though. Critical review of your photos is a pleasure on this big screen, particularly when you use the wide-angle/tele toggle to zoom in on fine details. The screen is large enough to accommodate both nine-image and sixteen-image index displays, so you can review groups of pictures at a single glance. The menu displays are large and easy to read, too.
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Average User Rating
3.5 stars out of 176 user reviews Rating Breakdown
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5 star: 56
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4 star: 84
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3 star: 18
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2 star: 11
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1 star: 7
My Rating
0 stars click stars to rate product Most Helpful User Review
0.5 stars 9 of 9 users found this review helpful
Pros Good features, nice large LCD preview, good image quality
Cons Sony service center is ABHORRED
Summary I liked this camera very much, the design and features were outstanding. What made me decide to never buy another Sony product ever again was the SHAMEFUL Sony Service Center. My camera started shutting itself off about 6 months after we purchased it. Sony instructed us to send it in ... Expand full review
Summary: I liked this camera very much, the design and features were outstanding. What made me decide to never buy another Sony product ever again was the SHAMEFUL Sony Service Center. My camera started shutting itself off about 6 months after we purchased it. Sony instructed us to send it in to the service center for repairs. We did, and that's when the nightmares begin.
First, they claimed to have never received it (even though we had a tracking number showing it was signed for by the service center weeks before). After 3 weeks of back-and-fourth, they finally found it. Hooray!
3 more weeks go by with no contact from Sony. So we wade through the 20 minutes of automated phone crap till we finally get in touch with a human being. They told us gleefully that our camera was fixed and that it was shipped back to us the day before. Unfortunately, they decided to ship my camera to someone who wasn't me. In another state. Heck, it wasn't even a person, it was a camera store. This was revealed by the tracking information from UPS. So, back to the automated phone crap.
Now, when I call Sony, they think I am the camera store that they sent my camera to. I have to explain to each DOLT I speak to that I am NOT calling from a camera store in Colorado, that I am in fact just an individual consumer in San Diego. Once we get past that, they tell me it's going to be weeks before they can try to find out what happened to my camera (and the 512MB memory card inside it). They also inform me that IF they can't find it, they will gladly replace my camera with a new one... but that the process of getting it to me also takes several weeks.
Apparently those fine folks at Sony have never heard of Christmas. Or birthdays. Or the fact that I sent the damn camera to them in October and it now the middle of December. Should I have to wait another month for them to do some stupid internal paper-shuffle? I don't think so. Let's not overlook the fact that every time I speak to one of those clowns over there, they all promise me a call back that same day with difinitive information on when I can get my camera... calls which of course were never returned.
This is an ongoing saga. I had a similar ride on the merry-go-round with these morons a couple years ago when my Sony DVD player decided to blow up and catch on fire. Please, good people, take my advice: DO NOT PURCHASE PRODUCTS FROM THIS OUT-OF-TOUCH COMPANY. Clearly, they do not stand behind the products they make and sell. All they want is your money. You'd think they would be aware of the fact that it's harder to get new customers than it is to keep the ones they have.
This one is gone for good.
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