Toshiba PDR-T20 Review

Features & Controls

The PDR-T20 is equipped with an all-glass auto focus lens, 2x optical zoom f=5.8 - 11.6mm lens, F3.1/F8 (38 - 76mm in 35mm equivalent) 5 elements in 4 groups. The focusing range in normal mode is about 50cm to infinity and in Macro mode from about 10 cm - infinity in wide angle or about 27cm - infinity in telephoto. The 2x optical zoom can be magnified digitally to 4x total. Both are accessed by pressing the Tele/Wide to the right of the LCD monitor.

There is no lens cap, the lens is recessed back into the body at power down and protected by a manually sliding cover.

The built-in flash automatically powers up when the camera is turned on - needed or not. It has a recycle time of about 5 seconds (on full battery charge) and a working range from about 1.5ft - 10ft (in wide angle - ISO 200). User selectable modes are auto flash, auto red-eye reduction, forced flash and no flash.

There is no optical viewfinder, the 1.5-inch color LCD is used for framing, reviewing images and setting menu options. Touch screen controls in the black area to the left of the image are;

• Display Key(top left):
  In Record mode: allow access to the Scene, Flash and Self Timer modes.
  In Playback mode: access to Image magnification(zoomed play) or Thumbnail display.
• Menu Key(center left):
  In Record mode: Access to Preview Settings, White Balance, Color modes, Quality/image size settings, ISO, LCD brightness and Setup
  In Playback mode: Access to Slide show, Paint, Information, Protect, PDOF, LCD brightness, and Setup.
• Erase Key(bottom left):
  Allows access to Delete image(s) or initialize the SD card.

The control on the top right is the 4 way Navigation control/Enter control. It operates the zoom, digital zoom, navigates menu selections or images, or when the center is pressed it sets the current selection.

The Mode button (bottom right) toggles the operation between Play and Record as does the sliding lens cover.

On top are two of the four regular "buttons" on the camera;
the Power on / off button and the shutter release.

On the bottom is the port for the AC power supply/battery charger.

On the side is the USB 1.1 port for downloading to the computer. Since the camera has no movie mode there is no video out connector though it would be handy for displaying an on-location slide show on any TV.

Images are stored on tiny SD (Secure Digital) flash memory cards. The physically identical MMC (MultiMedia) type cards cannot be used.  Toshiba supplies an 8MB SD card with the camera.

The camera is powered by a Toshiba proprietary Lithium Ion battery pack #PDR-BT3, 3.7V, 1035mAh (included), or the charger (# CEX-0107A - included) which doubles as an A/C power supply. A depleted battery can be recharged in-camera in about 4 hours.