Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Optio 550 gets a great review
Review: I love the Optio 550. It takes great pictures, with lots of options for the more technical person. I haven't figured out how to use the 3D function yet (but I'm not sure I ever would) and the flap to the PC/AV card is a little flimsy (but it hasn't broken yet). The zoom is awesome. I love to be able to blow up a picture and have it maintain its resolution. The pictures are clear. I am still trying it out, but so far it works great.
Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Pentax Optio 550
Review: I really didn't have any luck with the camera. I took it with me to New Orleans and about 2/3 of the pictures turned out. The other third did not. Some had shadows around the frames and some objects were fuzzy around the edges and those were the day shots. I set the camera on the night scene mode, for night shots in the French Quarter and that was a disaster as there were streaking lights and double exposures. I had practiced with the camera at home before the trip and night shot worked good, but I think the problems were caused by electrical interference as there was a warning in the manual about it, but I had never experienced it with my other digital camera. I had always kept the Pentax on point and shoot for the most part to be safe as the camera was supposed to take care of everything. I was used to my Olympus Camedia which pretty much gave it up after 4 years and chose the Pentax as a replacement. Frankly, there was no comparison, with the Olympus I could shoot anything at any time with fantastic results. People were so impressed with the photos they would ask what camera I used. I thought the Pentax would have the same quality.
I had planned to return the camera to Pentax so they could check it out, but it unfortunately it went missing on my trip, leaving me only with a spent SD card.
In case your wondering why I didn't buy another Olympus is because the retractable lense made alot of noise and they use some plastic parts, which didn't set right with me as the new one would have been over $500.00. The memory card was also changed.
Maybe the bad experience with Pentax is that is was just a bad camera out of the lot, maybe the camera was just too sensitive for my use or maybe it has too many bells and whistles and gets confused in the point and shoot mode.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Excellent quality pics! Software is old though...
Review: I am excited and very happy with the quality of these pictures and the size of the camera! 5x zoom is great! 5 MP is great! My only 2 issues are once it was shutting down (low battery) and battery went dead and camera lens cover jammed and left lens exposed. Had to force it closed with newly charged battery. But my biggest complaint is that I thought I was getting a $70 piece of software along with this camera in ACDSee, but found out it's a version a few years old! It's version 3.x!!! 5.x is out! What a bummer, so I emailed Pentax and got no reply...
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Everything You Expected...But Since it was Given PCWorld's
Review: I think capitalism is a fine thing. Everyone deserves their fair profit. I read the PC World "Editor's Choice" review and bought the camera for less than $500...and still got $50 back on the rebate. That's a net of $450. I also did a lot of other homework. Many side-by-side comparisons. I read the Consumer Reports Digital Camera issue which didn't rate this camera because it was too new.
Today you will be hard pressed to find the camera for less than $599. Although it is still worth every penny.
I am surprised at the speed with which online retailers responded to the demand. Maybe the camera is in short supply. It should be!
Pentax has developed a great product. Even if the price has gone up 25% in two weeks, you will still get a wonderful camera (others have outlined its features so I do not have to) and after your $50 rebate (Hurry)you will have many chances to share the love ;-)
Get a 256MB SD card right away. The little 16MB that comes with it is good for about 16 high quality (or 50 lower quality) stills. I took about 300 photos in two days. There was still battery power left and the color was as good as my 35mm SLR.
Just outstanding!
Evaluation:
Conclusion: a decent camera PLUS 5x zoom in compact package
Review: the optio 550 is a solid camera with one big advantage over the competition: 5x zoom in a compact package. pros:
- 5MP resolution with good image quality.
- beats competition with a 5x optical zoom in a compact package (dimensions are 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.6 in, weighing 8.7 oz.).
- accurate color reproduction.
- low image noise at low ISO setting.
- allows a great deal of manual control.
- live histogram in shooting and play modes.
- very good macro capability.
- spot metering.
- long movie clips - up to 10 minutes each!
- convenient shooting priority play mode - a half-press of the shutter brings you back to shooting mode.
- decent night exposures with automatic noise reduction.
- no color cast when using flash.
- camera feels solidly built.
- bright, high resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflective coating.
- passive AF sensor helps with focusing.
- impressive battery life.
- price (compared to competition).
cons:
- noise noticeable at ISO 100 and above.
- some purple fringing/chromatic aberration visible.
- some lens distortion from half-zoom to telephoto.
- autofocus speed could be better.
- shot to shot times not as fast as competition.
- no slow-sync flash setting.
- RAW format not supported.
- metal body scratches easily.
- high redeye occurrence.
- vignetting visible from half-zoom and wider.
- slow startup: >5 seconds.
- fastest continuous shooting speed is only 1 fps.
- slowest shutter speed available is 3 seconds.
- cannot physically access the battery or memory card while mounted on a tripod.
- plastic tripod mount.
- 16MB SD card is inadequate - be prepared to shell out more $$ for more memory.
- the batteries supplied are proprietary so add a few bucks to your budget for a spare.
the optio 550 has a very impressive feature set, better than competition 5x zoom, and 5MP of resolution. there's not one glaring omission but there are enough minor ones that it got a 4 star rating.
i hope this helps you in your buying decision. peace.
