I bought my camera from Dubai in Feb 2004 and since then I had been using this camera without much trouble. Although purchase price was pretty high if you compare with digicams you get these days but I was happy that I made up my mind to buy Sony.
The good thing about Sony products is that you get service centers almost throughout india even in small cities, product availability is good and you get almost all the accessories related to the product although the price is generally on the higher side.
I always believe in going for genuine accessories as they are hassle free and last for many years but again the purchase price is higher.
I bought my camera with 64 MB memory stick which was addtitonal to the free card of 16 MB which came as free bundle with the camera. That time I could not think of buying high capaciy memory stick as those days they were pretty expensive.
I am holding the camera close to 5 years now and it never gave me any trouble except I had to replace the battery(AA SIZE) of the camera after 4 years which cost me only Rs.400/-
I recommend to buy Sony cybershot stamina battery for this model as it works best with Sony original batteries.
PIcture quality is excellent both in VGA mode and other resolutions which goes upto 3.2 mega pixels. I recommend 2.0 mega pixel resoluton for photography as you can download the pictures onto your mobie phone which has 2 mega pixel camera and photos opens with ease on the phone. And photographs shots taken on this resoluton is easier to upload on different internet related applications.
LCD screen is little small but gives you overview of the snaps and has good user friendly menu to browse through the different menu options.
Flash quality is very good with different modes for shooting pictures along with red eye reduction.
It has 3X zoom but does not gives you the clarity which you normally get in digital SLR. So zooming application is applicatble if you are shooting an object within the 20-25 ft range.
Video capturing is also pretty good especially in day light conditions or with ample lighting during night hours and depending on memory stick capacity you can store video ranging from 3 minutes to one hour.
Memory stick quality is excellent very robust as I accidently washed one of memory stick in washing machine and other day it got dried with my trousers and I am still using the memory stick without any trouble.
Like most of sony cameras you have the option of copying pictures to the computer either using the usb data cable provided with the camera or simply take out the memory stick and use it onto your computer’s card reader to copy data. You also have the option to view the pictures and video taken on television using the av cable given with the camera.
Charger provided with the camera is of good quality and can charge either two AA or two AAA rechargable batteries.
I have happy with the performance of my camera as it has delivered high quality pictures and built is also good as we had dropped this camera many times on the ground but never gave us any trouble.
This particular camera is not so slim as you get these days but I personally feel camera should have the dimensions which gives you the feel of holding a camera .
Its a very good camera for people who are getting into the early stages of photography and will be a right option before upgrading yourself to a digital SLR.