Connectivity
Software (4.5)
The T30 comes packaged with Picture Package for Sony v. 1.6 for Windows and Pixela ImageMixer VCD2 for Macintosh. It also comes with a Cyber-shot Life tutorial for Windows, a USB driver, and a software program to download music onto the camera for the slide shows. The Cyber-shot Viewer is Sony’s simplistic browsing program. It lets users look at thumbnails, adjusting the size or adding file info to the right of them. The one-touch buttons across the top of the screen allow users to rotate, print, import, edit, email, or view slide shows.
The software’s editing features aren’t very elaborate. Users can fix red-eye automatically or manually, toy with dynamic range in the Brightness Correction function, adjust saturation or sharpness, trim the picture, or even use the Automatic Correction function. Movies can be viewed in the software, but cannot be edited.
The Picture Package program that changes the music on the camera is very easy to use. It has a simple interface with text directions and simple buttons for deleting a track and changing a track. The program also remembers all its old tunes, so users can restore the default soundtracks if desired. Each track can be up to 180 seconds long.
Overall, the packages software with the Sony T30 is very simplistic. If users simply want to download and organize photos, as well as change music on the camera, this package will work just fine. Users who want to edit photos may want another editing program though.
Jacks, ports, plugs (6.0)
The T30 has a single multi-connector at the bottom of the camera that hooks up to an included tri-function cable. One end of the cable has a jack that connects to the T30. The other end has several tentacles with various jacks on them: A/V-out, DC-in, and USB. The A/V-out can be selected to output in NTSC or PAL standards. The DC-in requires a separate cable to hook up to this cable to function. The cable is equipped for USB 2.0 high-speed transfer of picture and video files.
Direct Print Options (4.5)
The aforementioned cable connects the T30 to a PictBridge compatible printer. To streamline the process, Sony included a DPOF option in its playback menu that selects the image currently being viewed and adds it to the print order. The print order can be managed from the Print option in the same menu. All pictures can be selected, or users can select only the images marked DPOF. Users can also scroll through thumbnails and select which photos to print. Some cameras let the photographer choose the quantity of prints from each picture, but the Sony T30 doesn’t have an interface to specify that.
Battery (6.0)
The T30 comes with a skinny NP-FR1 InfoLithium rechargeable battery that gets about 420 shots per charge. This is quite impressive. Also impressive is the battery indicator on the camera: there is a typical icon that shows full or half-full, but there is also a more accurate reading that lets users know exactly how many minutes of shooting time remain. For instance: “224 minutes.” The T30 comes with a wall-mount charger for its battery.
Memory (6.0)
With an impressive amount of internal memory, the Sony Cyber-shot T30 can stock a few photos when a card is full or forgotten. The camera’s 58 MB of internal memory can hold 16 pictures at the highest and finest resolution. To record movies with a decent frame rate though, consumers will need to purchase the optional Memory Stick Pro Duo card. The T30 also accepts Memory Stick Duo cards, but the Pro Duo version is necessary to achieve the 30 fps rate. The T30 has been tested to accept cards up to 2 GB, but the camera does not support the Access Control security function.
Other features (2.5)
Underwater Housing – The optional MPK-THC Cyber-shot Marine Pack can be purchased for $199 if users are taking the T30 diving. This underwater housing is the same one that fits the Sony T9 and can safely take the cameras to depths of 132 ft.
