This camera has a serious design flaw. Do not buy this camera if you are planning to use it outdoors in sun light, because you cannot see anything in the view finder. If you have the sun behind you, the sun light makes the view finder appear like a mirror, so instead of looking at the object, you are looking at an image of yourself. If you are facing the sun, the viewfinder appears black. This is with winter sun, cannot imagine what it will be in the summer.

For the price, I could love this camera if it just had an optical viewfinder. If you can get around that I think you could like it too, but in the end it may frustrate you a little too much. There is enough I like to give Pentax 3 stars for trying hard at a small price.

I was in Sedona, AZ last week without my camera. Not good when the scenery is so incredible, so I bought the last display model T20 at a local Costco. It was a bit more expensive than Amazon but the features made it an appealing little compact camera and I liked a previous Pentax Optio S5 we once owned.

Here's what impressed me during its 3 day test drive.

The large 3" LCD display was simply great in normal light. It had big bright vivid color reproduction onscreen. At the red rocks of Sedona I thought it also did a great job with colors in my photos as well.

It's video function was also great for a small camera. Shooting VGA (640-480) makes a big difference compared to the 320x240 of many current and most older digital cameras. Sound reproduction was very good and I could use the zoom function while shooting my video clips as well (my old Canon wouldn't allow that).

Speed between shots, flash quality & depth, and battery life were only average. However for a lower priced camera they were acceptable.

The jury was still out on touch screen functions, but I think I prefer standard menu functions operated by a button or wheel. The main issue there is you have to take your attention off of your photo to go through a series of touch screens for nearly everything, including making flash adjustments. It just seemed a little more cumbersome to me.

Using a touch screen accentuated the fact that this camera (and many similar models today) do not include an optical viewfinder. The fact is if you are shooting in daylight, sun in particular, you'll have a hard to impossible time seeing the touch screen, let alone easily composing a picture. Several friends tried it and each one made a comments to the effect of "I hope it comes out alright, because I can't see what it looks like...". If you are going to use this as your only camera, I strongly recommend that you choose one with an optical viewfinder for that exact reason.

I mentioned this was a display model. Because of that I'm going to extend a little benefit of doubt on a couple of issues.

First the battery cover on my camera was more loose than other cameras I've owned or tried out. In fact I ended up using a rubber band to make sure it stayed closed. I was a little paranoid that I'd lose a battery if the compartment opened.

Also, at first the lens of this camera jammed in the extended position. I had to physically push the lens back into the camera when powering down a couple of times--that made me nervous. After a minute it was fine, but I was afraid that it would become a problem again down the road.

Finally, my camera froze up several times-- after all it is basically a mini-computer. I had to power down, power back on many times over a 3 day period in order for the camera to work.

Again, those last problems might be due to the fact that many people may have manhandled the display model over a few months. It provided a good lesson though, that when it comes to digital cameras, its best to stay away from display models.

Okay. Having said all that, this may be a decent choice for you at its price. But make sure you have a good return policy before buying (Costco's is best, Amazon is pretty good) and try it out for a day or two to decide for yourself.

Oh-- a small detail. This camera doesn't come with a memory card. The thing is, at 7.0 megapixels most cards provided (usually 16-32MB) are virtually useless when each photo at full resolution creates a 3.5MB file size-- you'll be buying a 1-2GB SD card anyway.

The final word. I want to like this camera, but I think in the end, I'd be more frustrated than happy simply due to the fact of that missing optical viewfinder. So, here's a reluctant thumbs down on the Pentax T20.

I own the Pentax T20 and the Sony N1. Compare the two, and there is no doubt that the Optio T20 is much more superior. The T20 wins on several things: Price, Picture Quality, Ease of Use, and the overall feel/look of the camera.

As mentioned by previous reviewers, the large (3'') LCD screen is awesome. The touch screen feature is a nice gimmick (Although sometimes I wish there were more buttons for navigating through the menus). The picture quality is superb. Basically, this is everything you'd ask for in a point-and-shoot camera, and then some. The movie mode works great; you can zoom in/out in movie mode. The sleek chassis gives the camera a nice feel. Battery life is excellent (However, I did buy extra higher capacity batteries).

I've dropped this camera once or twice, and it's held up thus far...

If you're looking for a point-and-shoot camera with touch screen, then your search is complete. This is the camera for you!

Personally, I like most all of the Pentax camers. I've had a few before this one, and they all functioned great. Teh Optio T20 is awesome with its toutch screen, great quality in it's pictures too.

The T20 has decent functions in its menus, although it could use maybe a little more.

The only draw back to this is the lack of a view finder. But, if your looking for a large LCD screen on the back, your not going to find many with a viewfinder anyways.

And if your looking at the size of the screen for the T20, your not going to find one better. Great quality, brillian colors...

The Pentax Optio T20 is an excellent camera for its niche: a general-purpose, point and shoot, small, lightweight, high-resolution camera. Its strong points include the large display, the touch-screen menus, the comprehensive range of settings, 7 MP resolution, and relatively inexpensive storage medium (SD card).

A warning: if you don't read the 160-page manual, you will probably never figure out how best to use all the available features, so if you're one of those who adamantly refuses to read a manual, this probably isn't the camera for you - stick with something simpler and cheaper.

The only real negative with this camera is the absence of a viewfinder. In bright ambient light, such as outdoors on a sunny day, the display is inadequate - you'll have a better view of the reflection of yourself than of the subject, making framing the picture pure guesswork in some situations. A viewfinder, with all of its inherent limitations, would alleviate this problem.

The included battery charger is the only means for recharging the battery. This means that you have to remove the battery from the camera, which creates some minor logistical issues for having the camera fully ready at any given time. You definitely want an extra battery, both because of the charging process and because the large display uses more battery power than a smaller one would. That said, I've had no problem with battery life, but I've always made sure to have the extra battery fully charged.

Although not entirely an intuitive process, I was taking great photographs with this camera within a day of reading the manual and trying it out. The screen is large enough to obtain an accurate preview, and it's loaded with possibilities in terms of video, audio, and special effects.

I like this camera. After spending a little time and tweaking some of the settings, I am satisfied. The photos I have are sharp and clear. The videos are good enough for a digital camera. Watching the videos on tv are a hoot! I like the large screen, bright and vibrant! Editting photos is fun. You can write on the photos (times, places, people, things you want to remember about the photo, Etc). There are frames you can put around the pictures. I like the rose frame. I'm having great fun being creative with this camera. I think the $179.99 I paid is a fair price for such a nice camera. Please take some time with this camera, you'll be surprised what a little tweaking of the settings will do for your precious memories. I'm having a ball!

Camera offers great features and high quality pictures; however, it is poorly built and won't last very long.

I purchased mine in 8/06. By December it was broken (lens mechanism ceased) and had to be shipped to Pentax for repair (on my dime). It took them 10 weeks to realize they can't fix it and send me a replacement camera.

6 months later the replacement camera broke (same problem). I sent it back to Pentax 6 weeks ago and they still have it. They no longer make this camera, so they can't replace for me. They won't refund my money and pretty much won't do anything for the customer.

Bottom line - spend your money elsewhere. Buy a canon, buy a Casio, buy a Kodak - just don't buy a Pentax.

This camera has been sent back to Pentax twice because the lens froze and camera did not function. That problem was repaired. Now it does not hold memory properly. I have lost pictures. Pentax will not fix it. I have just put it in the hazardous material pile to take to the dump. Will be purchasing a Canon product as a replacement.

This camera has better features than the pictures that it takes. Dont be fooled by this. The sleek neat feel of the camera ia a good selling point. It is one of the cleverest models that I have seen, but I would never buy one again, or purchase another item from pentax. I bought this camera because my girlfriend had one. It seemed like something that would be fun to have, and it was, for about a year. Like the other reviews that I have read, you do not EVER want to buy a camera that does not have a view finder. It is difficult to see your subject in outdoor lighting conditions and, as such, impossible to take the pictures that you would like to. Additionally, the camera took terrible photos in "challenging light conditions" i.e snow, or bright light. The video function captured light wrong in brighter light conditions as well turning the brightness into a pink haze that saturated the video. These were all things that I could deal with though.

A few months back after roughly a year of use, my girlfriends camera lens froze on the startup procedure which caused the camera to default to an off condition. She has not been able to use the camera since. My camera did this a few times as well, but after some fiddling, I was able to get some extra life out of it. Well, a few weeks ago, the autofocus quit working and I could not take anything but a blurry semblance of a photo. I sent to pentax for repair and they told me that it would cost $167 for a complete repair. The camera originally cost $280.

In summary, I would recommend that you spend your money on something else. This camera, though full of technically fun options will ultimately leave you with a bitter taste of disappointment even if you are lucky and it does not malfunction as did mine and my girlfriends.

Don't need to be too detailed. The camera is great. Big screen, looks good, works good. Takes good pictures.

Nothing to say.