If size and price matter in your digital camera...

This is my first digital camera, so I won't be able to offer you a broad range of how each feature compares to the other top five models. I have borrowed a Kodak digital camera before, and when purchasing for myself chose the Gateway over the latest Kodak model primarily because it offered the same features, but is much more compact, a little larger than a deck of cards--a key feature when trying to fit it in a small purse that's already overflowing.

I actually received the camera as a gift, but I believe the price was around $400. It comes with a 32MB card, which means when you have it set to the full 5-megapixels you can take about 12 pictures. But unless you're planning to enlarge photos a great deal or want to zoom in on things in detail after taking the photo, 3-megapixels is sufficient, and for that the card holds about 36 photos. Of course, the whole point of a digital camera is be able to take as many pictures as you like without the worry of wasting film, so I bought a 256 MB card: 200 photos at 3mp ought to keep me happy.

The lay-out is pretty standard: Zoom lens that closes up behind a shutter when the camera is off, digital display window on the back to see what your taking and what you’ve taken, a four-direction set of buttons to navigate the menus (good thing I practiced those controls playing Sega and Nintendo growing up) little wheel around the picture-taking button on the top right to select the mode, a zoom button and a separate power button. I found that when using the viewer to line up the shot the image was often very grainy and difficult to see, particularly in extreme lighting, but once you take the photo, the display quality is much better. Like with most cameras, the photo you've just taken is shown in the display for a few seconds, and you can turn the dial and look back at all the photos you've taken. You can also delete that one that makes you look like you have an extra chin right away, before anyone else sees it. All this viewing used to drain the battery of early digital camera models, but I've yet to run out of battery life, so no complaints on that.

The dial on the top has separate modes for regular, night, action and portrait (i.e. blurs the background) shots. The display window shows battery life, flash/no flash, number of pictures you can still take, zoom level, picture quality setting and auto focus on/off. You can also take a brief movie (we're talking a few minutes max, depending the size of your memory card, but still a nice feature).

I actually received this camera the day of a friend's wedding, so it got a test immediately. Having charged it over night, I couldn't wait to start snapping. Overall I got some nice shots once I got the hang of it. My only complaints are that it often took too long to auto focus. So, the bride is coming down the aisle, I line up the perfect shot, push the button, whirr, focus adjust and click--another lovely shot of the back of someone's head. There's also an auto off feature, which is great to save battery power, but when you want your camera at the ready for longer than a minute, it's annoying to have to keep turning it back on.

My second test-run was a day at the Bronx Zoo. Now I had the hang of it, and I got some really impressive shots. I could zoom right in for a close-up of a gorilla's hand when it was sitting on the other side of the Plexiglas window so you could see every detail of her fingernails. Or get a nice detailed shot of those flamingos on the little island, or right up-close and personal with a Siberian tiger's face.

Another feature I liked better than the Kodak is that you just have two cords, one for the computer (it plugs into the USB port) and one to charge up the battery, so you don't have to find the extra desk space for yet another computer peripheral like a camera charging cradle.

In terms of other accessories, there's software for PhotoSuite to view and alter your photos on your computer, a USB cable, AV cable, LI Li-ion rechargeable battery and a 32MP card (as mentioned).

This is a very good price for a 5-megapixel camera, and as one of the first that Gateway has produced, I think they've got a very competitive product. I'm certainly satisfied.