Casio WQV3D-8BNDL Camera Wrist Watch

Casio WQV3D-8BNDL Camera Wrist Watch
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
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I'll admit it up front: the camera watch is tons of cool, but it's expensive and you may not use it as much as you'd think. Of course, it's a watch with alarms, so at least you are not spending your hard-earned money on a gadget you would use only once every 6 months. As a watch it's pretty basic and accurate, but also pretty large, so if you have small wrists, this product will look ridiculous and ridiculously bulky on you. In other words, this is a gadget for grown men with big wrists.

Of course, the reason you'd buy this product is the built-in digital camera, which sports a resolution of 120x120. This isn't much in today's world with 6 megapixel cameras, but we are not talking a professional camera here, or even a prosumer one. 120x120 is not too bad when you remember that most webcams have native resolutions of about 170x140, so this is just a bit less refined than webcams, in a package 1/5 the size or smaller. You can take up to 100 pictures, which you'd then transfer via the built-in IR to a PC. Unfortunately, you'll need to buy a separate IR sensor and upload software kit to do this, although some online shops give this away for free.

How's the image quality? Obviously you have to keep your expectations reasonable. After all, this is a cool gadget, not the digital camera to bring when you go on exotic trips. You need plenty of light, I think it's rated at 100 lux minimum. You also need to learn not to move the watch when you press the shutter button, or the picture will come out blurry. It's a focus-free camera, so everything will be in focus as long as you are at least 1 foot away from the subject (or is it object?). Finally, be sure not to take pictures of people from an angle that's too low, because most of us don't look great with our chin in the most prominent part of the picture.

Since it doesn't have flash, you can rule out taking pictures in a bar or club; besides, do you really want to snap the moment when you are drunk and look ridiculous? Not really, in my experience. So you'll probably use the camera only occasionally. For me, I caught a few heart-breaking moments on mine on Sept. 11, when the World Trade Center collapsed. Those blurry pictures caught the frenzy moment of a country in crisis, as well as the heroic efforts of New York's bravest and finest. Of course, you can't (and don't want to) expect to run into crises like this, so you can probably use the camera to spy on that cutie in your office (don't over do it!), or catch your friends in awkward manners (and risk losing their friendship!). Anyway, you can be creative, and that's what's ultimately cool about this gadget which you can carry everywhere, even in bed.

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