Point and click

Introduction

It's nearly Xmas time. So what do you get people who have everything? Hopefully something that they don't have.

And a pen that's also a camera is hopefully something that they don't have. Apparently it is also "the perfect business person's accessory", ideal for "law enforcers and mystery shoppers" as well as being "a cool gift idea!"

This is the Swann Security PenCam DVR-421, which features a sleeker, higher quality design combined with higher image resolution and better sound recording. It's a pen which you can take pictures with, and also record videos onto the 2Gb memory stick that's built in.

Set Up

Take it out of the box. Plug the USB part into a computer to charge it up. Screw that into the rest of the pen, and you're good to go. There's a small switch inside which allows you to switch between still camera and video camera. Select the one you want and away you go.

In Use

Hold the little button on top down for a few seconds. A little blue and orange light comes on for a second. And then it's ready to use. So you can use it like a camera, and take little snaps normally by clicking the little button. Or you can use it in a covert way just pretending that it's a pen, and clicking away taking photos. Because it has a tiny lens and is a pen rather than a camera, the results won't always be amazing, and you might have to use it very carefully to get great results, but it could be a bit of fun...

The built-in battery lasts for around 90 minutes before you need to find a USB port to recharge it.

Conclusion

It's a fun little gift. But with an RRP of £90, it's not exactly a stocking filler.

If you are looking at using it in some form of professional capacity then I'm not sure it's going to be up to scratch. As you can see from the photos scattered throughout, the quality isn't all that brilliant. If you were trying to take photos of something that you needed to capture in any form of detail, then you might find it hard to do that with this device. The picture of the box that it comes in is a classic example, as you can only easily read a bit of the text on it.

So as a thing of fun that the kids might love playing with at Christmas, it's a winner (apart from the price tag). As a covert security device (whilst I'm no expert on this subject) I don't think that it's quite going to cut the secret mustard...