Very happy with my second Sony camera

Opening
If you go back to when I was a newly minted reviewer, you'll find the review of my first digital camera: a 4-megapixel Sony DSC P9.  It served me very well for the past 5 years, surviving numerous abuses and trips overseas.  The photographs I took were good enough to earn me an exhibition which raised close to a thousand dollars for charity.  That being said, I was inspired to get a new camera.  The logic was that I could take much better shots and develop a new hobby.

I usually don't write electronics reviews, but I am going to use the template from my prior camera write-up in the hopes that it will help people make an informed decision when purchasing.  I really only considered Sony products for my purchase because I had good experiences with their products and am fairly brand-monogamous.  I vacillated between the T77 model and the W170, eventually opting for the W170 for reasons that I will explain throughout this review.

I will avoid cutting and pasting the manufacturer's technical details as any informed consumer will easily find these.  I suspect that most people will want a review that covers the intangibles and the "feel" of this unit, rather than a regurgitation of redundant data.

Exterior
The camera comes in silver, black, and red.  For some reason Best Buy only carried the red model in-store.  This was fine for me since I liked the color, but if you want a more conservative color choice, you may have to order online.  The traditionalist in me was drawn to the fact that the W170 still looks like a camera.  I has the usual viewfinder which any user will rarely use as the LCD screen is large, easy to read even in bright sunlight, and is much more accurate in terms of framing the subject matter.  There are also traditional toggles for all of the camera functions instead of the touch-screen on the T77. 

Overall, the exterior has a very rugged feel, but lacks the graceful minimalism of the T77.  It feels more like a working-man's camera if that makes any sense.  The buttons and toggles are a bit on the small side, owing to the compact nature of the camera, but they are still convenient and easy to use. 

LCD Display
The LCD screen is excellent for shooting and reviewing shots even in bright sunlight.  The large size and resolution of the screen also means that the menu functions and tool-tips are easy to read.  I have the usual concerns about scratches.  I would say that the one complaint I have about the LCD was that compacted images were so sharp that they fooled me into thinking that the HD-format (16:9 aspect) shots I took were higher quality than they turned out. 

Battery Life
Superb.  The camera comes with a battery and charger, as expected.  The battery has to be removed for charging and does not have a direct charging input.  I have not intentionally tried to run the battery down, but suffice to say that I took 168 shots in the highest possible recording format, many of which were multi-shot exposures, then reviewed them continuously and didn't manage to get the battery below 50% charge.  Sony states that with all features running, the camera will record 390 images and have 195 minutes of power at a full charge.

Memory
The camera uses standard RAM memory sticks and come with an adaptor that allow use with Sony products that use their proprietary RAM.  I prefer the reliability of RAM from premium manufacturers when it comes to my photos for obvious reasons and purchased Sony but SanDisk makes cheap alternatives.  The cost of memory should be factored into your budget.  Of course, many retailers throw in a free 2 or 4gb memory stick these days.

The camera has 15mb of internal memory, but seeing as this holds only 6 or 7 hi-resolution shots, it's almost superfluous.

I am considering getting an Eye-Fi card and reader to add Wi-Fi connectivity to the camera at some point.

Features
There are so many to list.  I was floored by how much camera technology has changed in the past few years.  I will attempt to cover the salient points that will affect a purchase.

HD-Format: this is my first camera that can shoot in 16:9 HD format for viewing on HDTV's.  The camera comes with a cable that can be plugged directly into and television for viewing. 

Standard-format: Additionally, the camera can be set to shoot in the standard 4:3 format and you can select how large you want the image files to be. 

Smile/face detection: this is a shooting mode that automatically detects faces and smiles and then shoots non-stop as people smile.  It's almost creepy how well this feature works, but the user has not control over when the shutter is depressed which can make for some unusable shots.

Scene recognition: Unlike on my P9, the camera can automatically determine if it is shooting in low-light, landscapes, etc.  However, the menu dial also has selections for landscapes, night portraits, soft backgrounds, and twilight portraits that can be adjusted individually to the shooter's tastes.

Mpeg movies with sound: the camera has limited video recording capability and can record brief clips.  It's not a feature I use regularly.

Image stabilization: a lifesaver that works well.  Nuff said.

Other goodies: It is possible to individualize shooting preferences within the programming menu on the dial (marked as a large "P).  There is a DRO setting which recovers lost detail from shadows, red-eye reduction (which strobes very quickly and reduces the time that subjects must hold a pose), white balance, and face detection. The lens can also be set for telephoto or wide-angle which I have been toying with a bit.   There is also an grid-overlay option to help you properly align your shots.  Image stabilization is standard on this camera but can be turned off.

Image manipulation: The W170 (and T77) have some very cool on-board Photoshop-like tools which allow for both basic image cropping and rotation as well as adding some blurring effects.  Oddly enough, black and white and sepia effects have to be pre-selected prior to shooting and cannot be added in post unless done in Photoshop, just like in my P9.  Images can be protected and stored in folders that you can set up in the viewing menus.  There is an interesting feature that can manipulate the corners of a non-smiling subject into a smile--it's very creepy, but surprisingly effective.

Accessories
A wrist strap is included and it's too long.  It got in the way of several of my photos.  There are the necessary adaptors, chargers, and input cables so you can upload your photos to a computer or HDTV.  Sony includes a disc with drivers and other software that I will never use because I have Photoshop and I don't need their programs re-arranging the My Pictures folder in Windows.

So, how does it work in the real world?
The camera has split-second start up from boot-to-shoot.  As the menu dial is spun to select shooting modes, a virtual overlay of the dial appears on the LCD, matching the movement of the dial and displaying text telling you what mode you are in.  The use of a mechanical dial to access different shooting modes (versus the much slower T77 touch screen) means that you are able to record images very quickly.  After playing with each camera in the store for 30 minutes, I found that I liked the speed at which this camera not only started up, but how quickly I could access features and sub-features.  The T77's screen just felt a bit "squidgy" and not as crisp during navigation--of course, I'm spoiled rotten by the iPhone at this point.

One of the aspects of the camera that takes a bit of getting used to is that you can push the shooting button down fully (during which the camera will automatically shoot when conditions are ideal), or can be depressed halfway, allowing you to actually see the camera run through its auto-focus, flash selection, etc before shooting.

This camera was very easy to use straight out of the box which leads us to...

Manual?  We don't need no stinkin' manual...
I have the manual but I have not read it.  The W70 is fairly idiot-proof and anyone who can run an iPod can run this camera.  It takes a bit of practice to navigate through the menus and learn how to access certain features, but the nice thing about the camera is that each feature you select brings up a text bubble that explains exactly what that feature does.  And for those users that just can't be bothered with reading the manual or the text bubbles, there is an "easy" feature where the camera will pretty much analyze the environment and apply flash, ISO, etc automatically.

Picture Quality
This is possibly the most important part of the review.  I will preface it by saying that it is probably best to use the auto-setting when shooting unless you really know your way around photography.  Everything I shot in automatic mode came out nicely.  As I mentioned in my earlier remarks, I am using this camera test out photography as a hobby and the extensive control that the user has over settings is a blessing and a curse.  I'd say that for the amateur hobbyist, this is a good way to get one's feet wet before graduating to a more advanced camera and settings.

The 10.1 glorious megapixels and advanced features pretty much guarantee great shots under just about any conditions.  I'm very happy with the images I have been shooting so far and they are only getting better as I get more familiar with the unit.

So why the W170 over the T77?
The W170 versus the T77... Well, for me, it boiled down to three things: 1) the W170 was much cheaper and had the same features as the T77 and  slightly better zoom; 2) I like the fact that the W170 actually looks and feels like a camera--call me a traditionalist, but the T77 for all its sleekness didn't feel like a camera; 3) I like the mechanical interface versus the LCD touch screen on the T77 which I found to be ponderous and frustratingly slow--the old-school toggles, dials, and buttons on the W170 were simply much faster and easier to use than the T77 and therefore accessing the camera's functions went more quickly.

Overall
The W170 and T77 are currently top dogs from Sony's camera line.  These are very similar cameras and will appeal to different users.  I see the T77 as being more of an early-adopter type of product, whereas the W170 has more of a traditional appeal.  Regardless, the W170 is an excellent camera, easy to use, produces great photos, and has the type of reliability and quality that one would expect of Sony.  I'm very happy with my purchase.

I would highly recommend reading the reviews on CNET.com which is where I started my pre-purchase research.