PROS: 8.1 megapixel, 5x optical zoom, neat editing features on the camera, good flash recovery
CONS: sleek (can slip out of big fingers), battery has to be charged OUTSIDE of unit

My girlfriend saw this at Best Buy and fell in love with it, which is good because she spent full blow retail on it ($250).
It takes XD memory, so we had to buy a new chip because all my other devices use SD.
So far the pictures I have been taking are excellent. It has a browse feature that lets you scan through "typical" shots (portrait, landscape, night, through glass, fireworks, and a couple others and combonations).
The action shots are good with no blurring and the colors are very vibrant, the image stabilization helps.
You can get a camera with similar qualitites for a couple bucks less, but the name and style is why you are paying a little more for this one.

I too, paid full blown retail at BB. I knew the price would drop soon, but I wanted the camera at the time. No regrets.

BTW, this camera DOES take SD memory, the Micro kind. I returned the weird Olympus memory once I found out the camera takes a MicroSD chip. I bought a 2GIG for 15 dollars. The nice thing about the MicroSD is that you do not need to tote your camera to an internet cafe to DL pictures when you are on vacation.

Just slap the chip (with the supplied adapter)into a Kingston Data Traveler Reader (20 dollars, and it is a stand alone 2GIG thumb as well!). No need for any software. Just use Windows. Microsoft has a cool free (and small)utility called Power Toys Image Resizer that installs on any PC with XP. Just right click on any image (or hold shift key and click for a series) and "Bob's Your Uncle", all your pix are resized to email to friends or blogs.

I love the camera and the extra optical zoom available. The Super Macro mode is incredible for a compact camera. Extremely close and sharp images that can be made even much closer digitally on a computer. You can zoom in a shot after it is taken on the camera to see just how well the image holds up. Amazing. Note:Beware of camera shake for macro work. The image stabilizer does not help much here.

The camera is advertised a "splash proof". This may be so for the controls, but the battery compartment has no rubber seals. Still, it was a consideration for me purchasing this camera. I vacation in Thailand where it can be wet at times. Olympus does makes a water proof/shock proof (resistant, really) camera for much more money with out all the 840's features.

The controls are intuitive for anyone in the digital age. I have not even cracked the manual open yet. I expect to read it sometime to explore all the features. But so far I have been able to access so much just on my own with the easy to navigate menu. I have not yet bothered to load the software on my PC yet. So far all my needs are being met by Windows. I'll get around to it eventually. The point I am trying to make is that you can pretty much charge the battery, take some pictures, DL them to your PC,and email them with out having to read the manual or mess with Olympus software. I like that. The camera syncs right up with windows using the supplied USB cord.

The Olympus charger takes 5 hours which is dismal. But not to worry,do a search here on Amazon and you can find DIRT cheap spare batteries and 1 hour quick chargers (even with a cigarette lighter adapter).

I highly recommend the type of soft case I bought. A Lowepro Rezo 20 soft case with a pocket for spare battery. It has a snap and Velcro belt loop that can be attached to any back pack strap or fanny pack as well as your belt. Very handy and inexpensive. Make sure you get the newer, improved model with the extra security of a snap as well as Velcro on the belt loop.

For the money I believe you may find a better camera image wise, but only if you intend to make huge prints. And the other cameras don't come in cool blue either! Nor do they have the combination of the Super Macro mode, 5X optical zoom, and splash resistance.

Coming out right about now, is Olympus's other Stylus cameras with 7X optical zoom. More money, slightly bigger and heavier. But worth a look.

Even though I paid about 30 dollars too much I am very happy with this camera and expect to be for some time.

This is my first review on Amazon. i hope you found it helpful.

This is not only a REALLY cute, sleek designed camera, but it also offers WONDERFUL picture quality and great features. I am so glad I waited to purchase this until after I further researched. I receive many compliments on the appearance, and I love the fact that it is so small and compact. It fits in my purse and it is ready to take pictures at any time. Big LCD screen is very nice to review your snapshots. This camera is very simple to use, with the exception that I have not figured out how to use the feature which allows you to take 3 or 4 pictures instantly to capture the best motion shot. This feature would be great during sporting events so that you don't miss that 'special' shot (the perfect hit during a baseball game). Otherwise, I would HIGHLY recommend it.

After much debate as to which Olympus digital camera to replace my old one with, I selected the Olympus Stylus 840. I am happy with it, in that it has enough options to satisfy the "advanced" amateur photographer in me, a great zoom capability, and it's also Super easy to use. I haven't gone through the instruction manual completely, but I have gone through everything by using the camera's "on screen menu" method. I find it's menu far simpler to navigate than with my previous Olympus (which was ironically a much lesser quality camera overall.) Additionally I love it's tiny, compact size, and it's stylish black color, which was my first choice and had the added bonus of being a few dollars less in cost than the other 3 available colors. Picture quality (the biggest deal of all) will have to remain to be seen; I have only played around with it at home so far, but it's going to Bermuda with me in 3 days! :) One thing that might be helpful to know is that this comes as a brand new boxed set, so everything you need is included in the price, even though the website only pictures the camera alone, and out of it's box. You ARE getting the very same product you'd see on the Olympus website, or if you went to an electronics store and paid full price for the whole boxed camera outfit. (I felt I was taking a risk with this purchase, and that this information wasn't made clear by Amazon, so I hope that helps if anyone else wonders about the same question.)

I have been a long time fan of Olympus cameras,both film and digital. When it came time to up date my carry along point and shoot I naturally checked out Olympus's line up. Now, I am not brand loyal to the point of excluding all other manufactuer's products. It is very hard to buy a truly "bad" camera today. Most of it comes down to how user friendly a model is to you. Olympus cameras have traditionaly been smaller,lighter, and built with excellent optics. I have not been disappointed with my past purchases and I am not now either. The screen is big and bright, the zoom range,(somewhere around 35-180 mm in 35mm terms) is just about where 95 percent of my photo work is done. The resolution is outstanding and prints up to 11x14 on my Epson printer are great. I couldn't ask for more in a compact, easy to carry, great looking camera.

I would like to buy the Olympus 840 8.1 digital camera. Can someone tell me what all comes in the box with the camera. Answer soon please!
Thanks....kathy