Samsung's uber-stylish NV3 digicam / PMP reviewed

While we Americans were off celebrating Independence Day, Samsung partied by throwing down a new NV lineup of stylish digicams. The value-packed flavor, dubbed NV3, took a pocket-friendly design and crammed MP3 / XviD playback into a point-and-shoot camera. The blokes over at DigicamReview got their fingers around the sexy device, and they found that while it suffered from the same issues that most 7-megapixel compacts did (introducing red-eye, high noise inclusion, and soft detail), the PMP functionality was top notch and pricing was very reasonable to boot. Reviewers were quick to point out the "lower than expected detail, lack of color, and over-processed look" seen in test shots, but did praise the super macro mode in its astounding ability to focus on objects just one centimeter away. Moreover, the camera's 720 x 480 widescreen video mode (as well as the 30fps VGA mode) were "impressive," and the MP3 / XviD functions performed comparably to the video iPod. Touted as a "complete package," the crew was mildly pleased with the 2 hours, 10 minutes of battery life while watching video clips and 3 hours, 50 minutes they realized when streaming through tunes. Overall, the NV3 was dubbed an "excellent value" at around £165 ($315), especially if you're looking to consolidate your gadgets and don't mind "just average" quality in your backup camera.