I finally decided to take the plunge and replace my old Kodak 5 megapixel digital camera. I wanted a good quality digital camera with modern features like anti red-eye reduction, decent digital zoom and good quality video recording, so having done my homework the Cybershot seemed like the best choice.

Other reviewers have criticised the Cybershot's navigation menu and buttons, but I'm still on the fence. When you're flicking through menus on screen you are given a helpful description of what each option does. I found this useful. However operating the camera has not quite become second nature to me yet, but then I guess that's because there are a lot of tweaks and options if you feel like delving beneath the surface.

I've tended to stick to 5 megapixels for my photos so far, as 8 megapixels tends to fill up my PC hard drive rather quickly thanks to the bigger file size. Unless you're running off A3 prints then you don't need to select more than 5 megapixels in my opinion.

There are lots of useful features including "continuous shoot" which lets you take multiple photos while the shutter button is held down, auto red eye reduction (not one red eye in hundreds of photos so far), and steady shot which automatically compensates for my shaky hands. I've been quite pleased with the zoom level so far - much better than my old Kodak's 2x - but the real test will be my son's Christmas play!

Quality-wise the photos look very good, and bearing in mind I'm a total amateur I've been quite pleased with some of the effects when taking photos in bright sunlight in the early evening for example. As another reviewer recommended, I tend to shoot in "Vivid" colour mode because I prefer more vibrancy in my photos. The supplied Sony software has quite basic functionality when compared to the suites offered by some other manufacturers (eg Kodak Easyshare does just about everything you want), but essential tasks like cropping can be carried out without fuss.

The slideshow feature is excellent, and with the supplied cable you can plug the camera directly into your TV's RGB socket and play it on the big screen. We did this with our recent holiday snaps (over 100 of them!), and the camera even plays background music and has transition effects between photos. Very professional, and if you have a DVD recorder then you can always record to DVD-R - great for giving to the grandparents!

A 4GB Sony Pro Duo memory stick will give you over 1,000 photos at 5 megapixels, and over 50 minutes of high resolution video. I managed to pick one up new for around £26 from another online store - they can be around £50/60 in some high street shops!!!

As you'd expect from a Sony product, the Cybershot's video recording quality is excellent. Each clip can be up to 10 minutes in length, which is more than enough for our needs. One nice touch is that you can shoot in sepia too, which you can also do with still photos.

Battery life is OK, but I only have my old Kodak to compare against and it used to get through AA rechargeable batteries like anyone's business. All I can say is that we went on a foreign holiday for a week and in just one charge I shot over 100 photos plus a couple of short videos, and there was still life in the camera when I got back. The Cybershot comes with its own battery charger so you don't need to keep buying batteries. Which is great, but my only gripe is that my battery seems a bit loose in the charger.

Overall I'm very pleased with this digital camera. Looks-wise, the black brushed steel is very sexy and contrasts nicely against the chrome Carl Zeiss lens. Performance-wise, it's a solid choice for someone like me who wants to take photos and videos of family holidays, etc. I can heartily recommend the Cybershot.