Polaroid PDC3030 Review

Overall Rating

Amazing value for money
Great quality pictures
Excellent battery life
Audio and video recording
3x digital zoom
16mb built in memory

Feels a little cheap
Poor quality screen
Only takes AAA batteries rather than slimline
Limited features/connectivity for some

I fancied buying a digital camera, not so much to replace my film based one, but merely to have the option of using a digital camera. Being on a budget, I wanted to get the most for my money without opting for something from a company I'd never heard of. And then I found this Polaroid PDC3030. I paid £100 for the PDC3030 from Argos, and for that price I also got a large leather case and a 64mb memory card.
Bad points first: it feels cheap, with plasticky buttons; the screen quality is pretty poor meaning your photos look a lot worse than they are; you can't use any funky rechargeable chewing gum batteries or anything like that and in terms of features, it has a flash and a zoom, and, um, that's about it.
As for the good points, well, where do I start? For £80 you get a 3.2 megapixel camera from a well know, well respected company. To get anything remotely similar from someone else, you'll have to spend double what you pay for this; the Polaroid one step down from this costs just £5 less, but is only 2 megapixels! The camera has 16mb of built in memory, which isn't much, but some £300 cameras have no memory whatsoever, and *need* a memory card! With the 64mb card you get from Argos, you've got enough room for around 36 full size pictures, though you can get more if you lower their resolution. You can use it as a webcam, use it as an audio recorder, record video with sound; you get a 3x digital zoom as well. And the battery life! I've used this camera over a 1 month period with intermittent heavy usage, and the battery is still full. The camera is also so simple to use: turn it on and go. The picture quality is also excellent, particularly in good natural light and with a steady hand: my friend has a 5 megapixel camera and even he was impressed by the little Polaroid.
Polaroid haven't spent much on how the camera looks, but seem to have poured all the money right inside the case. It might not be good enough to replace your traditional camera, but right now, this is *the* best value digital camera on the market. If you're on a budget, you will not get one with this quality of pictures for anywhere near this little money. It may not have all the features of it's expensive brothers, but if you've got £100 to spend, I defy you to find a better camera than this. An astonishing piece of kit, especially at this price.