  Abysmal Product Support
Sony's product support was so bad that I decided that I would never, ever buy another product with their label on it. Within days of my purchase, the software became obsolete and they refused to update it.
OK, I have the FD 95 and the CD 1000
I bought both 95 & 1000 used from Amazon.com! The primary difference is one uses Diskettes (95) and the other uses mini CD's (CD1000).
I usually take both and I have an extra battery. both use the same battery and are designed the same, except for the door and way you load the diskettes or CD's.
The advantage of the CD1000 is that you can almost take an endless supply of pictures on one CD. Ok it does end but I've been able to get over 55 pictures on one CD.
both the 95 and the 1000 operate about the same and look very similar. They are big and bulky, but take good >NO< great pictures.
What do I not like about it? well, you have to format the CD in the machine and then perform a finish task before being able to view in the computer. To finish involves going through three layers of menu on the camera. Its a tedious process for one spoiled by the FD95, where one just pulls out the diskette and puts it in the computer. People claim you can read the CD in the CD1000 without finishing the CD, but I found it impossible to do so. I did play with a disk by finishing and then re setting for pictures without losing a photo, which the camera Instructions did not say it could be done, but it can.
WHichever one you buy, it will be used because they are no longer sold new. You see people want small and neither is small. But let me tell you, size does make a difference people are intimidated by a big camera. The bells and whistles on either are worth it! I've had friends pull out their FD75 or their CD250 to take a picture, but when I whip out either, it intimidates those with the smaller cameras.
I would say for novice with the old Windows 98 computer should get the FD95, but the pro with the big monster computer on Windows XP and photo printer should get the CD1000.
With the prices listed now (both new stared in the $900.00 to $1000.00), there is no reason to get both!
Still a great camera!!!!
I have had this camera for 4 years now and its still a great camera!!! I bought this camera new.
Writing to cd is really great. I can take 155 pictures on the highest quality setting.
The disc needs to be initialized before using, this can take about 30-45 secs. Then it has to be finalized, another 30-45 secs. That has to be done before you put it in your computers cd rom drive to view your pictures. However, you can just connect the usb feature and save from there.
The lcd on this camers is great too. You can also take a 1 minute long video.Still very happy with it.
My what a large camera
Yes it's big. It's got a big 20X zoom lens and image stabilization. It's got big 8cm CDR's that permanently hold 160 or more 1600x1200 pictures. It also has a great battery that is good for hours of shooting. The LCD is a big 2.5 inches and the viewfinder allows framing good shots in bright sunlight. What I think is the most outstanding feature of this camera is the CDR format that allows endless picture taking without have to download to a computer. The blank CDR are cheap, I have found them for as little as $... each in tens. I think this camera will maintain a high resale value for years to come and become a coveted item.
After two years still haven't seen a better digital camera.
How often do you buy an electronic device that is still "best of class" after two years? I will buy another digital camera when they make one. It hasn't been done yet. I bought this camera in October of 2000 based upon experience with two other digital cameras. (One was a Kodak and one was a Sony) The built in CD is important for two reasons. Large file size, 800k per photo, and archiving of original photos. Don't under estimate the importance of having access to the original image files. My daughter-in-law has a newer Sony 3 megapixel camera with a 3x optical lense. I get virtually the same quality of images using my 2 megapixel 10x camera. At close range, without using the zoom, I can get better results with her camera. In most situations that is not an option. It does have a nice feature for locking in the light settings. Even though this camera is not being manufactured any longer, I bought a second one for our office. Five different people are using the same camera, but we each have our own set of 3 inch CD's for recording and storing our photos. Using a ... HP Deskjet 940c printer I get photo quality, or better, 5x7 prints cropped from 50% of the original images. I won best of division for an 8x10 print of my grand-daughter in the local 2002 county fair using my camera. The digital print was in the running for best of show, but got beat out by a 35mm black/white photo of a sand crab. (Actually, I damaged the print while trying to mount it. I may have won judges choice if not for that.) I still remember one of the judges looking at me with a skeptical expression on her face when I entered the 8x10 print in the digital category. She didn't necessarily believe me.
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