Kodak EasyShare Picture Viewer review

19 September 2005 0:00 GMT / By Doug Harman

Kodak is certainly tenacious in providing ways for us to share our images and the cute little EasyShare Picture Viewer provides us all with a way to carry a modest number of images around in its internal 32MB memory or practically limitless number via removable SD/MMC memory cards, which can slot into a port on the Viewer’s top. The wee Viewer is truly diminutive, it weighs in at only 68g and its 87x58x12mm dimensions mean it will snuggle into the most modest of pocketry or handbags.

Next to the disappointingly always-open-to-the-elements SD slot is the on/off button while on the screen side, there is a familiar looking four-way jog button for scrolling simple menus and images with a central OK button for confirming selections. A Share button below fires up a new menu for printing, emailing (after you have imported your address book information from your PC, more of which in a moment) or cancelling the prints of images you’ve already assigned.

A menu button opens the camera’s simple-to-use systems offering slide show options, picture deletion, multi-image views and a set up menu for adjusting the LCD’s brightness for example. While the viewer can be plugged into your PC via the supplied USB cable, (USB 2.0 compatible) it will also connect to a PC or TV via a Kodak Printer Dock using the supplied adapter. In both instances, the viewer starts to recharge immediately it’s connected.

In terms of playback, the image-cycle time is about half a second, while a full resolution image takes up to three seconds to display, but my 6MP images shot on a Nikon D50 took around two seconds to appear in all their glory.

The screen is very nice and clear with enough resolution to be useful; you even get a 2x magnification feature. One drawback however is the screen; it is not a fully anti-reflective screen, so it’s easy for glare to affect the viewing experience in bright, outdoor conditions. Oh! I nearly forgot, it comes with a lovely little tan leather case to protect it as well making the bundle even more pleasing - however, due to the positioning of that on/off button you find you turn the viewer on getting it in and out of the said case.

Verdict

While we have to commend Kodak for producing a truly attractive little viewer that is sure to win over many enthusiastic owners, it’s still quite hard to understand the thinking behind it, particularly as there are today, a growing number digital cameras with the same size (or bigger) screen and that are not much physically bigger than this viewer-only device.

Battery life is a little limited too with a modest three to three and a half hours viewing time from a single full charge and the battery is non-user changeable, so you can’t buy a spare to have handy - just in case. Given its price of around £100 it looks pricey too.

Technically, it’s a nice, well-made device but if it were about £20 cheaper, it would have gained a few extra points on this test and would have been more heartily recommended.

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Review Recap

Made by: Kodak
Price as reviewed: £100
The good: Pocketable, ease of use, large 2.5-inch screen, built-in 32MB internal memory, recharges in dock or when connected via its USB cable, direct printing with optional Printer Dock.
The bad: Screen does not suppress reflections, SD/MMC slot always open, ditto the USB and dock interfaces, no AV port for playing images on TV – optional Printer Dock required. Power button in the wrong place when in the leather pouch
Quick verdict: Cute and funky, but with camera screens getting bigger do you really need it?
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