Customer Reviews
HP R742 Photosmart Digital Camera (Black) 
2008-07-07
This is my families third HP R742 digital camera. It is very easy to use. It has a rechargeable battery with charger. This 7 mega-pixel camera takes excellent pictures. It comes in different colors witch is great because everyone in my family had a different color camera.
Poor product service from HP 
2008-07-06
This is an excellent camera and I've been delighted, but guess what? It's now no longer available and neither is a replacement charger for the battery. My charger got misplaced when we moved, and I thought, no problem I'll just go to the HP site and reorder. The charger is not available; no picture of it anywhere, no suggestion of an alternate item to buy. The online help referred me to the HP Parts store page, no mention of it there either. My opinion of HP has changed...they do not stand by their products.
Nice Pocket Camera, Lost over my old HP727 
2008-07-06
I purchased the R742 about two months ago, the red version. The color is very nice (it's not a magenta red like the pictures may show). The camera color doesn't matter that much though, so let's get to the real issues. Photo quality is quite good, I have no problems with graininess, lines, color issues, etc. As far as this is concerned, it is exactly what I would expect from a camera in this price bracket ($0-$250). Sure, you can't do as much with it as you could with a higher end camera or a SLR, but then again, look at the price you're paying.
Pros:
1) It is nice and small, very easy to slide into a pocket or purse to have on hand.
2) While 3x zoom (the other 7x is digital and not worth anything) is not much, it works for being a small camera and seems pretty standard.
3) The price is inexpensive, yet is a nice low-end camera.
4) The click-to-snap time is less than a second I find (i.e. the time between when I press the button, it figures out the exact focus, sets off flash, and "snaps" the shot) which is better than my prior camera which seemed to delay things longer.
5) The 7 MP is plenty for nice shots even if I want to enlarge to greater than 8 x 10.
Things I don't like, but you may, and things I find different between the R742 and my older R727:
1) The R742 power button is a bit hard to press the way it is buried. I have a medium hand size with dexterous fingers, but even I have to press it twice sometimes. The good thing about this though is you don't accidentally turn it on when it's in your pocket! However, my old R727 I sometimes turn on by accident.
2) The R742 button to switch between taking and viewing photos is a "slide" button. It seems a bit flimsy, and although I have not had a problem with it I much prefer my older HP727 that had the buttons for this on the top that you press as it is easier to toggle between the two while taking photos.
3) The lens moves out when turned on - now this is normal for a lot of cameras, but coming off of my HP727 that did not have an external lens (yet still had 3x optical, 7x digital zoom!), this has taken getting used too.
4) On my old HP727, the buttons for setting focus and flash are right on the camera, but now I have to scroll through two menus to get to this; which is annoying when I want to pull this new HP742 out for a quick shot. Now, instead of less than 2 seconds to select focus range and flash setting, it takes about 10. This is a huge difference, for example, if I see some birds, or deer, etc that I want a picture of before they fly/run off.
Summary:
Over the course of more than two years, I would think that there should be improvements on the R742 from the older versions of pretty much the same model (i.e. my old R727). In reality, the easy usability backslid in those 2+ years, and features (The 1 MP better and faster click-to-snap time) made only tiny strides. If my menu/"ok" button on the R727 constantly worked I would have returned this R742 immediately, as the above two mentioned strides do not make up for the usability issues I have with it.
I just went on HP's site, and did not find this camera nor very many others listed. I wonder if they are not going to make cameras any longer. I really like HP products; my desktop (HP D4100E from 2005 and still going strong, no problems at all), laptop (newly purchased TX2000z), printer/scanner/fax (C7280), and camera are all HP. However, this most recent purchase has me wishing I went with a Cannon, or had just waited until I have enough money for a Nikon SLR. I think HP has lost the market on their cameras, and based on their website, they know it.
HP Camera 2008-07-06
This camera is incredibly easy to use. The screen is larger than most digitals cameras so it makes it easier to see what you are shooting. To download or print pictues is simple. The cameera holds almost 1700 pictures with a 2MB card so you do not need to worry about running out.
Alright camera, marginal picture quality. 2008-07-01
I have this camera in red. The camera itself is alright. I wish it had a viewfinder as well as the screen. I do not like how fast the screen shuts off. The picture quality is marginal. Even in the steady photo mode, the picture is real grainy. In other modes such as night mode, you have to hold the camera real steady. I tried that and my pictures came out blurry. I wish I would have read reviews before purchasing this. Its an ok camera overall.
More than I expected 2008-06-24
The stylish HP Photosmart R742 Digital Camera features an all-metal body that's small enough to slips into any pocket or purse. Take 7-megapixel still photos and view them on the bright 2.5-inch image display screen. Industry-leading in-camera red-eye removal and easy-to-use shooting modes allows this camera to take great photos. Easily snap the best shot with 13 shooting modes, including auto, burst, close-up and sunset Just point and shoot, easy-to-use design and intuitive buttons enable a simple photo-taking experience Record moving memories using one-touch video with audio Organize, edit, print and share using HP Photosmart Essential software USB Connectivity - Windows Vista, 2000, XP Home, XP Professional, XP Professional x64, Mac OS X v10.3.9, 10.4 and later Dimensions - Width 3.69 x Depth 0.95 x Height 2.19 inch with protrusions Weight - 0.3 pounds without battery
Great little camera 2008-06-16
I have used this camera for five months and I love it. It is compact, very easy to use and I will never use another digital camera that requires double A batteries!! However, I did find out that taking timer pictures runs a battery down very quickly. No problem. It takes only an hour and a half to recharge it. This camera has MANY shooting modes and shows all the information that you need on the screen.
My GREAT new camera 2008-06-12
I love my new camera. Everyone remarks about how professional and sharp my pixs are. I took shots at the pool, at work, and at church. I even posted video on Youtube the first week. I was shocked at the small size of this camera and it is so light weight, but this little camera can produce such high quality of photographs. I feel a little tingle inside every time someone says something about my shots. I also think it is the way I crop and improve the shots on the HP grogram. I have not advanced to the Snapfish site yet but I will get there. I am looking forward to using this great camera for years. I was so impressed with this camera that I sent one to my Nephew for his high school graduation.
Great Camera (I rate this 4 1/2. And my real name is Aaron Collier) 2008-05-31
This is a great camera for people who just like to take general pictures to view, edit, email, print, etc. I highly recommend purchasing a SD Memory Card (about 1 GB) for this product; built in storage not enough. The battery has a pretty long life, (rechargeable) and saves you a lot of money on not having spend it on regular batteries. One thing that does bother me though, is that whenever you turn the camera on it resets to auto-flash, meaning that the flash will go off at times when needed, but it doesn't always need when it goes off and may cause the picture to get blurry. You can change the flash setting either to off, on, or red eye, but whenever the camera is turned off and back on it resets to auto. That can get annoying. Also when you download the software, the HP website then finds out that you have received you product and starts sending you loads of e-mails of their newsletters, other products to purchase, their new expensive software, and all kinds of stuff! That I should say is the most aggrivating. But other than all of that it is a very very good camera!
got this for my mom and she loved it 2008-05-31
I bought this product for my mom, so my only experience with it is in teaching her how to use it. I wanted something small and portable, which it is, quite a bit smaller than my own cannon powershot. It has all the features that my mom would need for basic pictures and it was quite easy for her to learn to use (she is still trying to figure out the internet so that says a lot!) transferring pictures was easy for her and she hasn't called me yet with any questions.
price was also great, i think i paid about half of the suggested price which adds to the stars!
