BUYING FOR EASES SAKE (Kodak 386-6126)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Kodak 386-6126
Date:	27/07/05 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: purports to be good at charging batteries.

Disadvantages: Not as efficient as a card reader, and batteries do not keep charge very long.

A few years ago, I invested in my first digital camera. I was wet behind the ears, and wanted something which was foolproof, and easy to use. Comparing different cameras at the time came up with the DX range of cameras from Kodak as being what I was looking for. I went for a slightly dearer one than the basic one, because it had more features, such as zoom etc.

At the tme of buying, I had no idea how on earth you transfer photographs from a camera to a computer and the idea of a docking bay that does it all for you was appealing. In retrospect, you will see the mistake that I made buying this piece of relatively expensive equipment.

WHAT IS A DOCKING BAY ?

The Kodak docking bay is attached to the computer via a USB, and to the power with its own 7 volt AC adaptor. What it does is transfer photographs from your Kodak DX/CX range camera into Kodak's own easyshare software which must be installed prior to installation of the Docking Bay. The docking bay also acts as a battery charger, on the premise that the camera will always be ready for use.

All good new so far.

WHAT COMES WITH IT ?

With the docking bay, you get the appropriate leads and AC adapter, and its interesting to note that these days, Kodak supply the rechargeable batteries with the docking bay, although I had to pay separately for mine, and they were pricey. You get a quick start guide, the software that is needed in order to transfer your photographs, and dock inserts to suit whichever range of camera you have bought, i.e. DX or CX range. I notice that Kodak are now offering a memory card with the docking bay, although this was not the case when I bought mine.

INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE

Installing the software is lengthy. I don't actually like the software package very much at all. The limits on editing photographs make it a program that didn't really have the consumer in mind. What I believe is that the software is more aimed at people buying photographs from Kodak itself, and I much prefer my Roxio software package for photographs. It's also a hideous yellow and turns all the photographs on your computer into Kodak ones. Now that kiosks for buying photographs are available in high street shops, why should I pay Kodak for inflated priced photographs ?

USING THE DOCKING STATION.

I was over enthusiastic when I started, snapped pictures left right and centre, and used the camera all the time. I bought a rather expensive memory card for the camera so that I had sufficient space for many photographs, and transferrring them from the camera to the computer was easy and painless. However, I didn't like the idea that these all went into the Kodak program which caused me endless problems in association with other programs I had on my computer.

When you have finished transferring photographs to your computer, you actually leave the camera in the docking bay and an LED light tells you when the batteries are fully charged, as well as having another light that flashes during transfer to let you know that the task is being performed. I actually found that the battery life was very short and was disappointed that in the end, the batteries supplied by Kodak refused to charge.

BUILD

As with a lot of Kodak products, I found that the build of the docking station was adequately solid. It is made of rigid plastic and has been dropped several times, which leads me to believe that its durability is good.

SIZE AND WEIGHT.

About 7 inches, by around 5 inches, the product is bulky and does take up valuable desk space. Weight was never a problem. The item is portable, but the problem here is that you do need to install it onto a computer if you travel, whereas with the card reader, you actually get much more portability and less to pack !

MY THOUGHTS

Since becoming more aware of what alternatives were available on the market for putting photographs onto my computer, this gadget became an irritation. It took up place on the desk, and it really did not charge the batteries sufficiently to enable me trouble free photographing. At around thirty pounds, it worked out to be an extremely expensive alternative to actually buying a card reader, which retail from around ten to fifteen Pounds, half the price, and I can put my photographs into whatever program I wish, rather than having my computer photographic experience dominated by Kodak.

I noticed recently that Kodak must have taken on board the problems that people have had with the docking bay, since they now have a new design which seems better, although with hindsight, I can see that I made a mistake buying the docking bay because of my own inexperience, and now have a card reader which I can use when I am on the move, and my all in one printer which reads camera cards as well.

WHAT WOULD BE MY RECOMMENDATION ?

If you like the DX range, and they aren't bad cameras, buy a memory card as the basic memory of the DX range is limited to about 12 decent photographs. (Decent meaning high quality as opposed to indecent). When you have a memory card, you really do not need this gadget that will gather dust and become obsolete within a short period of time. My recommendation would be to buy a cheaper alternative, such as a card reader and to transfer your photographs into a more efficient photographic program.

SUPPORT FROM KODAK

Their support is actually very good, once you have registered your product, although I did find that on one occasion when I needed to download the connection software package because I had lost the original disc, and had had my hard disc formatted, it was difficult to locate just the little bit of software that I wanted without being bombarded with heavyweight software that took ages to download.

They do reply to email, but I felt like I was an annoyance to them rather than a paying customer.

GUARANTEE

One year, which in the order of hardware of this kind is about average, although my charger actually stopped charging the batteries sufficiently after around six months. I made the mistake of buying my camera in England, and actually gave up on my rights to repair, since a crossing to the UK was uneconomical.

WHY WRITE THE REVIEW AFTER ALL THIS TIME ?

I am writing this review because I feel that people who, like me at the time of purchase, are ignorant of alternatives, will buy what turns out to be an expensive dust trap that isn't that smart. I believe the Kodak have recitified the problems in their new range of docking bays, but even with the newer ones, when you compare the price tag of around thirty pounds with the price of a card reader, the product doesn't make good economic sense at all. The point is that Kodak are still marketing this docking bay and still selling to people who believe it to be the answer to their problems.

I still use the DX camera on occasions, although I have a more expensive one now, though the docking bay sits at the bottom of a cupboard, sadly superceded by cheaper alternatives that let me deal with my photographs in a manner that I find more acceptable and every bit as simple. Since the battery charger built in proved to be less than it promised, there really does seem to be an expensive flaw in a decision to buy the docking bay, as opposed to a card reader.

Sort Kodak, thumbs down this time.

Rachel

Computer requirements : Packaged for use with either Windows 98 upwards or

Summary: Not worth the money.