The Photo Traveller from Veo is aimed at owners of Pocket PC devices who want to add camera functionality to their handhelds. It is compatible with nearly all recent models that have a CompactFlash Type II slot.
The device is made from silver plastic and comes with a small plastic case to store it away when not in use. The lens is focused by twisting, which is rather fiddly and makes spontaneous snapping difficult. However, in terms of picture quality, a manual focus is preferable to a digital zoom.
Somewhat unusually, when the device is plugged in, the lens faces towards you. It can be rotated around, though the slanting design is such that the camera now faces almost directly upwards. We found this an odd design quality and were unconvinced of its usefulness.
Still images can be taken in resolutions of 160 x 120, 320 x 240 and 640 x 480 pixels, while digital video has a maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. We found that the camera had an extremely slow response time and it was necessary to hold the PDAv ery still in order to get the desired image. Since there is no flash, the Traveller requires good ambient lighting to work. Despite these quibbles, we found the picture quality was above average for a low-resolution camera.
Ultimately, the Veo Photo Traveller is no replacement for an integrated camera. While the build and picture quality of the device was of a good standard, we felt that the fiddly focus, slow response and frustrating swivel design were drawbacks that were too great to ignore.
RATING: 4
PRICE: £68/£80 (EX/INC. VAT) REQUIREMENTS: WINDOWS 98 OR HIGHER, POCKET PC HANDHELD WITH CF SLOT WWW.VEO.COM
