Casio QV-5500SX review

As the cheapest camera in this group test, the Casio QV-5500SX will pique the interest of those looking for a budget buy. Externally, it looks like a silver oblong slab, although the moulded grip ensures it fits comfortably in the hand. Casio supplies 8Mb of CompactFlash memory and the slot is located conveniently on the top of the camera. Another flap on the front hides ports for external power and the PC serial connection, but there's no mains adaptor, so you'll have to use up precious battery power when you're transferring images.

The 1.8in LCD is the control centre of the QV-5500SX. Casio has created a nifty virtual dial that gives access to the camera's various functions. This appears on the HAST (Hyper Amorphous Silicon TFT) screen, which produces particularly vivid colours. However, the lack of a real dial or a separate mono LCD panel proved a serious power drain, and after a few minutes of shooting the Casio gave up the ghost even with relatively fresh batteries.

Most cameras have a gimmick to set them apart from the rest and the Casio is no exception. It can record a short movie of between 3.2 and 9.6 seconds as either a series of JPEGs or in AVI format. Annoyingly, unlike the software supplied with the Sony cameras, the QV-Link software is unable to download the movies from your camera, which requires the purchase of a separate CompactFlash card reader to view the movies on your PC.

Other features include a quick shutter that allows six images to be recorded to memory. However, these take about 30 seconds to be recorded, in stark contrast to the speed of the Toshiba PDR-M4's 'multi' mode.

The most disappointing factor about the QV-5500SX is its lacklustre picture quality. As our test picture shows, it was unable to resolve detail or render colour accurately, and it was poor in low lighting conditions. These results, coupled with a voracious consumption of power and lack of speed, mean that despite its price the QV-5500SX can't be recommended.