Toshiba PDR-M4 review

Toshiba manufactures a huge range of computer-related products and is a household name in consumer electronics. The company doesn't have any conventional cameras in its range, but this hasn't stopped it making a foray into the digital camera market.

The PDR-M4 has many things going for it. It uses SmartMedia as its principal storage medium, and includes an 8Mb card in the box. It has a solid feel that's absent from many of the cameras on test, and is straightforward to use. A dial on top of the camera allows you to switch between modes quickly, and once in the camera's manual mode you'll find some relatively advanced options for finer control over your pictures. White balance and exposure adjustments are available, as well as options for controlling the speed of the flash and area of focus.

Taking pictures with the PDR-M4 was a generally pleasant experience due to the fact that Toshiba has put some work into improving the speed with which photos can be taken. There's also a burst mode and a 'multi' mode that takes 16 mini snaps in quick succession.

We were also pleased to see a USB connection, which greatly speeds up image transfer speeds. Plugging in the camera brings up a dialog box asking for the drivers, the relevant CD is inserted and that's it. The Toshiba then appears as a removable drive and all you need to do to transfer images is to drag and drop to the appropriate location. Unfortunately, this is where things begin to go wrong. The LCD, for instance, is hampered by a lack of detail, despite a decent update rate. There is an optical viewfinder to use instead, but the design of the camera is such that when looking through this your nose tends to get awkwardly pressed up against the LCD.

In the end though it's results that count and the Toshiba PDR-M4 is let down by the poor quality of its output. When compared to the competition, its images were lacking in detail and vividness. Better results can be obtained from the Agfa ePhoto CL50, which is £120 less.