Evaluation: 
Conclusion: A good basic camera
Review: I needed an inexpensive camera for taking pictures of vacations, family pets etc. I did not need or want a fancy one.
The camera is easy to use (i havent even read the instructions). The software that comes with it is easy to navigate too. The pictures are clear and a good size. i found that the cameras with 5MP or more are just too large since i dont need 16x20 of my photos - i just email and print out 4x6. Although, i do need to reduce the size for email and webpages. I've printed larger (8x10) and the quality is still fine.
The LCD screen is slightly smaller than what you typically see these days but honestly its fine. You get a good idea of clarity and focus with the screen.
I've only had mine 4 months but so far no problems. I've owned others where the LCD screen has broken in a short amount of time so i know i am rough on the cameras.
The camera is small enough to fit in a purse and carry everyday. Its not real thin like the expensive type but still smaller than most.
Also, this camera takes batteries. I use my camera ALOT and i havent had to change batteries yet. I also own a cannon (for work projects) and it uses up batteries much faster (same amount of use).
Evaluation: 
Conclusion: A fine entry level digital camera
Review: I Purchased a Samsung A400 about a year ago, with the goal of finding a moderately priced, easy to use family digital camera that would double as a casual video camera. The A400 has served well in that role.
The camera has no optical viewfinder, you use the 2" LCD screen to preview the shot. This works well, but eats alkaline AA batteries in short order. Using rechargeable or lithium AAs or CRV3s is almost a must. The ability to use plain old AA batteries in a pinch is nice, however.
Image quality is very good on the auto settings, and there are lots of manual settings to play with. The video has good picture quality, with the audio being slightly out of sync from the onscreen action. The bundled USB cord has an RCA jack, so you can hook the camera up to most TVs. Our DVD player accepts SD cards, so we rarely use this feature, but it is nice for showing recently captured images to a group.
I've never bothered with the bundled software, as the camera shows up as a mass storage device in XP. The 32MB internal memory is small enough that an SD/MMC card is a must, I've been using a 512MB SD card with good results, and have never "needed" a larger card, even when shooting 640x480 video at 24 FPS. Samsung only guarantees support for cards up to 512MB, when I get a 1GB card for my MP3 player I'll see if the A400 can handle it. (Edit-The A400 recognized a 1GB PNY SD card, no problem - so now a half hour video is possible)
Only problem the camera has given me is really my fault: sometimes it is easy to forget what mode the camera is set for, still or video. There is only a small icon on the screen to remind you, and it's easy to miss. Internal audio output would be nice, and the case would be more useful with pockets for SD cards, the cable and spare batteries. Plan on getting another case.
The 2.8X optical and 4X digital zoom give a good range of quality/zoom options when taking still pictures. The zoom is locked to whatever you started with when taking video.
I'm not a digital photography buff so I can't comment on tech specs, but the image quality is plenty good enough for satisfying prints up to 8" x 11". I haven't tried to print anything larger. The video is good enough to capture highlights of family gatherings, but falls short of video camera quality, but it's with you when you need it.
My wife finds it easy to use, and the options menu is pretty simple to navigate. There are a lot of settings and options that I don't use: attaching voice tags to images, the ability to print directly from the camera, the self portrait timers, fireworks/landscape/portrait/night/text exposure settings, manual white balance, nine photo frames, sharpness settings, black&white and sepia effects, and others I'm forgetting. You can fiddle if you want, but the automatic settings seem to do the job for our informal family photos just fine.
Overall, I'm happy with the Samsung A400, it's delivered good, reliable service for a moderate investment. Enthusiasts will want more, but the average digital duffer should be pleased by the combination of price, features and ease of use. The only reasons I'm not giving it five stars are the lack of internal audio playback, certainly not a fatal flaw.
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