Guess I'm the only one who likes it...

Looks like it has some "issues" with quality, but I have to be honest and say I have not had one negative experience with this camera. After reading the first review which I felt was more emotion than fact, I went ahead and ordered the camera. I have major issues with Gateway and will not purchase from them again, but the camera in and of itself has been nothing short of stellar for me.

I have used this in almost every mode available and have played with it a lot. I disagree that it eats batteries. This is my 3rd digital camera, and the thing I note is that when you use it in preview mode, you will most certainly eat up your batteries. I save that mode for when I really need to see better or need to use a function that requires it. Otherwise, I just leave that part off and have had no problems.

On the issue of clarity, I cannot see the same issues coming up for me. I have had stellar quality with scenery, people and macro close up shots of a variety of things ranging from roses to eyelashes. Learning how to use the focus feature might be something some people have difficulty with if they are used to a point and shoot digital, but the clarity is indeed there. You just have to play with it and figure it out.

In all fairness, I'm sort of a pseudo-computer geek, and these new toys are something I look at as fun to learn - not the opposite. So you have to take my experience and decide if it fits with your style. Certainly if you are expecting something with less bells and whistles, it might intimidate you. All the higher end digitals are pretty much this way though, so it's not unique to the Gateway cameras.

I have had no problems with the card reading, no problems with batteries dying out (I do also use it in full 5mp mode pretty much exclusively as well), and the only problems with focus were on the first day as I got used to the focus feature (my previous digitals did not have that).

This camera does more than I've tested, but I do know you can take successive shots, you can record movies, you can shoot macros, change aperture, change exposure, self-time, set the white level and so much more.

Maybe I should be counting my blessings based on the negative reviews here, but I figured I needed to add my comments so that on the off chance only those with negative opinions are reporting on this, it will give the camera a fair shake. I do know that tends to happen - we all like to make our beefs known, but sometimes we never quite get around to reporting the good things. That's been the case with me up until now.

I do give this camera quite the work out. I have run it heavily since I got it at the end of Oct 2003, and max out my 128 mb card on a regular basis. I have a feeling the card will wear out before the camera does. I even ::yikes!:: dropped the camera a couple months ago and I hear something rattling around in there, but the thing is still going strong.

For $250 you can't beat it with a stick. At that price it doesn't matter if it isn't the greatest 5 mp you will ever find. It is a great deal that I was glad to get in on.

Yet still, I won't buy from Gateway again. Maybe an intermediary business, but not from them online. If you want to know about that, see my review on Gateway and you'll see what I mean.

Addendum: As I was rating this by different methods, I realized I failed to address the shutter lag. I find it is similar to the 2.1 mp I had prior, but also focusing by pressing the shutter release down halfway will then give you an instant shot of your subject with no lag time. This will also lock in the focus, so if you want to focus on something to the side, you can do so, then move the camera over and snap the shot. As mentioned before, however, you can take running shots with this. You just have to set it to that feature before you decide you're going to shoot this way.

Also, on quality, I will upload some of the pictures I have taken with this camera and let you decide what you think of them. I will either do that today or within this week hopefully.