BenQ DC T700

By Rich Trenholm, CNET.co.uk
Sep 24, 2007

The BenQ DC T700 is a slender compact that still manages to cram an enormous screen into a pocketable package. It's trim and stylish, and reasonably priced.

We investigate whether it's different enough from the Pentax T30, with which the DC T700 shares most of its innards, or from any of the other gluts of 7-megapixel compact cameras on the market.

Design

BenQ claimed at launch that the DC T700 was "the world's slimmest 3-inch touchscreen camera", and it certainly is svelte. It measures 15mm thick, and is only slightly wider at the lens ring. It's so slim that we found ourselves reaching into our pocket and pulling it out instead of our mobile phone.

     

For more details on the T700's design, click on the image.

At the back, there's a pleasingly large 76mm (3-inch) touchscreen. With most of the controls accessed through the touchscreen, the number of actual buttons is kept to a minimum.

There is a menu button and shooting/playback toggle, with a vertical 3x zoom rocker. Although we prefer the up/down movement of the zoom control to typical side-to-side rockers, the motion is hamstrung by a choppy, stepped mechanism. When reaching maximum zoom, continuing to hold down the telephoto-side of the rocker will start the camera zooming out again.

The DC T700 is available in black, red, white or silver flavors. Our silver version was more of a matte grey with silver accents, including a sleek metallic fin running around the side of the camera.

The frame feels satisfyingly sturdy. We're not keen on uncovered USB ports and the touchscreen will pick up fingerprints, but these are only minor gripes.

Features

The touchscreen icons are large, clear and responsive. It isn't perfect, though: When snapping, tapping anywhere on the screen brings up the same shooting menu.

We'd prefer it if tapping on the indicator for a specific function, such as the flash icon, took you straight to the menu for that function, cutting out a level of navigation. You can get around this to a certain extent by programming customizable onscreen hotkeys. The menu system also lacks an onscreen "back" option, although hitting the menu button generally takes you back a level.

The slim theme extends to the slender 12MB internal memory, while features are a bit thin on the ground. BenQ's Super Shake-Free system is another one of those automatic high-ISO systems with which manufacturers insist on saddling compacts with.

We liked the accessories: A touchscreen stylus that clips to the camera so you won't lose it, a cute little iPod-shaped charger and a pouch with a dinky memory card pocket.

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