"Short Form" review posted for Ricoh RDC-i700!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Monday, June 25, 2001 - 14:35 EDT)
A brand-new review of Ricoh's 'image capturing device', and a brand-new review style to boot...
In effort to cover more of the breadth of the digicam market, we're experimenting with "short form" reviews of some models. These will provide a more concise look at the features, capabilities and performance of some cameras we might not get to otherwise. As part of this format experimentation, we're also playing with the design of our sample pictures pages. The new format includes large thumbnails of the key test images, so you can get a general idea of what the photos look like without having to open a large file over your internet connection.
Our first Short Form review is of the Ricoh RDC-i700. This is a fairly amazing device, in that it combines a 3 megapixel digital camera with a huge 3.5 inch touch-screen LCD panel, and enough computing power to run a web browser, and sophisticated telecommunications capabilities. The "Image Capturing Device" (Ricoh's term) can actually be programmed to connect to the internet via a PC-Card modem, connect to an FTP server, and upload images automatically! It also supports email, and direct dial-in computer connections. We didn't report on all its telecom abilities, but looked at it from the camera standpoint.
Our conclusion? It's an OK three megapixel camera, but if you don't need the telecom features, you can do better for a lot less than the $1200 selling price of the i700. On the other hand, if you *do* need an imaging device that can connect and upload photos directly, there's literally nothing like the i700 on the market. - If you need the i700, you probably need it bad, so check it out!
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