With digital SLRs catching the headlines, you might think that the ordinary snapper who wants the best shots with the minimum of fuss has been forgotten.

The HP Photosmart R927 is refreshingly simple to use but won't frustrate the more advanced photographers either. 

With an 8.5-megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom, the R927 sports just a few buttons on the camera to adjust focus, flash and scene settings.

There's no viewfinder, but the 7.2cm screen is big and bright enough to compose shots. However, using the screen makes it hard to track faster moving objects, as we found out in our attempt to capture the Red Arrows flying overhead.

Leaving the R927 in automatic mode will suit point-and-shooters but we did experience motion blur with only slight hand unsteadiness.

The R927 does a very good job at creating on-the-fly panoramic shots. Once the first photo is taken, the camera finds the edges and moves them one side of the screen, allowing you to line up the next shot accurately. The camera will then automatically stitch the images together and save the originals.

The camera comes with only 8 MB of internal memory, so an extra SD card is a necessity.

Photo quality was very good and, because of the high resolution , printing at A4 is possible. An unusual but helpful feature is the built-in image analysis option, which offers feedback on the photos you've taken and how to improve your technique.

The R927 is supplied with a dock for connection to a computer or a television. A remote control is supplied for controlling slide shows on the television.

The dock does present one problem in that few people have their computer next to their television. As there is no cable supplied for directly connecting the camera to the computer, the dock has to be moved between the TV and PC.

Thankfully it will work without the power adapter as long as the camera battery is working but this is still inconvenient. In terms of battery life, we took around 90 shots over the course of five days and were still left with a bit of juice for a few short video clips.

Also Consider 
Fujifilm FinePix Z2 Zoom 
Overall: At this price the Fujifilm FinePix Z2 competently challenges its credit card-sized rivals, even if style triumphs over substance
Rating: 4/5
Price: £229