We bought this as a second camera. We also have the S500 and really like it. The price is excellent. It's easy to use. Only problems I have with it are that it takes a long time to save pictures with flash. So, you'll miss the next great shot. And, video is recorded as MPEG4. When I try to upload to my computer, it doesn't read it because it uses .avi. Granted, I have not used the CD-Rom that came with the camera. But, with the S500 I could just put the card in the card reader and upload my videos. I will say I do enjoy taking short clips with the camera so I don't have to lug out the big recorder.