The Sony DSC-P9 builds on the success of earlier models from Sony such as the DSC-P1 and DSC-P5. The DSC-P9 adds a high performance four-megapixel CCD and combines it with an excellent quality 3x optical zoom lens. The chief selling point of the DSC-P9 has to be its diminutive size--this really is among the smallest feature-rich digital cameras on the market at just 113x53x36 mm. First impressions are very positive with only Canons IXUS range coming close to the "want one now" factor. The metal body not only looks great but also gives that reassurance that the camera is robust and can be taken with you anywhere. Controls are straightforward and include a mode dial, a zoom toggle, and menu navigation buttons. Access to the Memory Stick and battery are from a single compartment door on the side of the camera. Input/output jacks are the fairly standard power, USB and AV out.
The 3x optical zoom lens tucks neatly into the body of the camera when not in use and includes an automatic lens protector. In use the zoom moves from wide to full telephoto in less than three seconds although is a little noisier than expected--especially compared to the notably quiet transport on the Kodak DX4900.
The Sony menu navigation, which is fairly consistent across the range, is extremely easy to use. In capture mode, there are options to set exposure compensation, manual focus, white balance, spot metering, ISO, image size from 2272x1704 down to 640x480, compression levels, flash levels and picture effects. There is also a scene selection mode that offers presets for twilight, night portrait and landscape. While useful, this is extremely limited when compared to some others such as the easy to use Nikon 2500 or the endlessly configurable Casio QV-4000.
The image quality is what you would expect of a four-megapixel camera--plenty of detail and scope for cropping to get just the right composition. When using the automatic settings, the images were not as sharp as expected although this can be compensated for using the in-camera sharpening. Both exposure and white balance were generally accurate although it would have been nice to see the ability to take a manual white balance reading as present on the Nikon 2500. To its credit, the DSC-P9 has a powerful auto focus illuminator that greatly aids focusing in poor light conditions. One feature we feel should have been included in a camera of this quality was an orientation sensor which automatically rotates images when stored to match the way you took them--a feature found on both the Canon IXUS V2 and IXUS 330. Despite this we would still recommend the DSC-P9 as being one of the sexiest, high resolution cameras available. --Nick Baxter
I bought this camera as an upgrade from a very basic (non Sony) model and am very impressed with it. Picture quality is excellent, even on the 640x480 image size and using this mode, the standard memory stick holds in the region of 240 images.
Being a would be photographer for many years, and almost struggling with coming to terms with the fact that producing anything like acceptable quality pictures lay fairly and squarly in the hands of the local photo processing plant, digital photography is a godsend. Even with the Nikon F90x SLR and .. 
This is my first digital camera, having come from an SLR background. First impressions of the P71 itself are very positive. Without looking at the manual too much I was able to point and shoot basically straight away with good results eacxh time.
Obvoiusly an extra battery and memory stick is graet to have for the Sony P5. The case is good quality and its front pocket is large enough to contain a few memory sticks, the spare battery and the shoulder strap. The quality of the case is good - it has a nice feel to it. However the P5 camera does.. 
Just bought this camera the other day and it does exactly what it says on the box. The pictures are fantastic and thankfully Amazon included a 64mb card with it (the 8mb card ran of space after half an hour! - You cant help snapping those pictures).