BenQs small 1.3-megapixel camera is a stylish pearl coloured affair, and is one of the tiniest cameras that PC Authority has reviewed so far (aside, coincidentally, from the BenQ 300mini we reviewed in May 2002, page 81).

The DC1300 is a bare-bones camera with some decent functions. It lacks an LCD screen for checking pictures and has 16MB onboard memory which cannot be expanded, but it comes with everything else youd need including automatic photo-settings, flash and that ability to take fine pictures at up to 1,280 x 1,024 resolution.As well as still photos, you can use the DC1300 as a Webcam or to record around 90 seconds of video and audio.

When you plug the camera into the USB cable, the operating system automatically copies the photos and video to a My Medias folder. Unfortunately detecting the camera can be a tricky affair, with Windows XP only finding it successfully 50% of the time no matter which PCs we tested it on.

The camera is more suited to the party photo snapper, where the moment counts, not the artistry of the photographs. And at $299, its quite a deal.