megapixels

First of all, if you're looking for film-quality photography, you ought to go with film. And if you want professional looking digital prints you ought to get something nice... but this thing, compared to all the other cameras I've seen, is ridiculously perfect for having a camera when you didn't know you would need it. I had been looking for something very small for a long time and I finally found this. I mean, you want to take this thing everywhere, it's so conveniently small. And for snapshots, it's got a pretty decent design and is very easy to use. Setting things up with that orange joystick thing isn't the best, but you don't need to use that to take a picture, just to set up your options and do things in editing and while using other media. The resolution you can get with this is unexpectedly good for such a tiny little lens. I have to admit, trying to use it as an mp3 player just isn't worth it, and if I were you I would not buy it for music. The video looks like video from most other still digital cameras, not great but very convenient if you need a video clip of something quick. And yeah, the supplied card is a joke. Order a bigger card when you order this. I found this camera for $200 elsewhere... so shop around.

I've found two deficiencies with this product, that make it (for me, at least) unacceptable.

1. Sound playback (e.g. using the voice recording capability) is way too soft, through the unit's built-in speaker. Its barely audible, even with playback volume at its loudest setting. Using the included earbuds, it provides adequate sound volume (e.g. normal voice level), so its not a problem with the recording sensitivity, but rather the playback. I thought I might have gotten a faulty unit, but I also tried a second one, the playback volume problem was the same. When I demonstrated the problem to a store clerk, even he admitted that it sucked.

2. The product is advertised as being able to play MP3s, but you can't just copy them to the SD card, you have to use the included software to import them, which will wrap your sound files with "digital rights management". The software appears to want to install DRM on your computer, and if you decline, the software just crashes. For me, this is false advertising, and then you also won't be able to interchange your music with e.g. your PDA. Would you buy a cassette player/walkman that required special software to "install" your audio on the cassette, but then only allowed you to play that audio on that particular player?

Aside from the above two problems, the camera functions OK in daylight, but the flash is underpowered, most of my nighttime pictures did not come out.

Its too bad the above two deficiencies are so bad, I really wanted to like this device, its really quite small, thin, and light, a pleasure to carry in the pocket or around the neck. But at its price point, with the above two (easily fixable) problems, I'd rather return it and get something else.

p.s. The box lists an 800 phone number for technical support, but after navigating the voice menu and waiting 10 minutes on hold, the technician tells me its the wrong phone number for this camera. Ugh.

For size and build quality, this little item is superb. It is a technological marvel, being so light, yet so functional. The picture quality is excellent considering it is a 2MP camera, but the digital zoom is a little too sensitive. When the zoom is on max, a little movement is captured or the picture is blurred. In normal mode, the pictures are superb. Very sharp, clear and light capture excellent.

The user menu is pretty much self-explanatory, and easy to use. The ball button, is a little annoying at times as it is not the fastest method of navigating through menus.

The video feature is again surprisingly good, with sound capture superb, and video excellent. Again the zoom lets this feature down too. It seems the best way to use the camera/video is by not using the zoom at max or at all.

As an MP3 player, the AS10 does a good job, but is let down by the software. The Jukebox software is long-winded and complicated. It would have been much better if the software allow click and drag of files to the SD card.

Unlike general digital cameras, where the camera if it accepts SD cards it will also accept MMC cards, the AS10 does not accept anything bar the SD card. This is worth bearing in mind.

The product is self is lovely, the cradle, rechargeable battery are all good features and the AS10 also comes with carry case, although not very protective. Due to the size of the AS10, it's very handy to carry around everyday, as you never know when an exciting photo opportunity may come. Also it would have been nice if Panasonic could have supplied an SD card that is larger than 8mb.