This camera is a small compact camera that at this date (11/02) is not as feature rich as some of the newer cameras, but is still an excellent workhorse. I have had mine for about 18 months and liked it so well I gave my sister one last year for christmas. She had no end of frustation with trying to load film to take a quick picture.

This camera is easy to set up and easy to use. During the Afgan campaign I saw a picture I wanted to send someone. Taped the news report, put the VCR on pause, turned off the room lights and took the picture off of a big screen TV. E-mailed the picture to several friends that night!

Battery life is excellent and uses STANDARD AA's!!

Some of my friends have chased the latest and greatest and my Kodak still takes better pictures. The one disadvantage is the card reader, but then that is also and advantage. When visiting my nephew, I pulled my card out and inserted it into his card reader for another brand (dual slot) and downloaded some shots.

Most of the newer inkjets have card slots in them, so they can read the card in this camera, without having to load additional software.

The camera has been discontinued by Kodak, but are still available as refurbished models. A great camera for what is is. I am a professional photographer who does large format photography and needed a foolproof camera for my wife, who is confused by complex camera settings. The DC3800 does that beautifully - at a cheap price. Even though the model is now two years old, the picture quality meets cameras sold today for twice its ... price used or refurbished. Why buy features you do not need?

Pros:

1. Incredible picture quality outdoors.
2. Simple. Anyone can make great pictures without being confused by complex camera settings.
3. Very small.
4. Easy to download.

Cons:
1. Too simple for anyone who wants to tinker with exposures.
2. The flash is lacking in indoor low-light conditions.
3. As with most cameras, the 8meg flash card included is a joke. ...get a 128meg card to upgrade.
4. The photo software included is junk. Get Kodak easyshare on a disk....

Bottom line: I really like this camera. Its small enough to go anywhere and sturdy enough to take a beating. The TV feature is nice for sharing family pictures on my big screen television, and a lot of fun. The USB reader really helps the novice transfer the pictures to the PC, its completely painless. I like that you can take pictures without the flash and they turn out very nice -especially inside museums/acquariums. The quality of the pictures is awesome, very good color and very clear.

What I don't like: I've had the camera for about 6 months and I wish I'd bought something with a better zoom. The digital zoom is not very good and really limits what you can shoot. Worse than the zoom, is the shutter speed. If there is the slightest movement while you're taking a picture, the result is a complete mess.

If you're considering this model, its a good camera, but shop around and try it out before you buy. Also, I bought the Kodak rechargeable battery pack and its wonderful.

This camera comes with everything you will need to get started with digital photography (except for the computer). Was taking photos and downloading them on my computer and printing within 2 hours. Very Easy to use- point and shoot. If you are into 35 mm photography you may be frustrated (as I am) with the limited feature here. But I got it for a small (and it is, fits into your shirt pocket) good picture...which it does do. Get it if you can find it for under 300.00$ good deal

I have had this camera for three weeks now and have been totally impressed with its ease of use and excellent picture quality. Every review you read about digital cameras has a negative comment about battery use. These cameras use a lot of power- more power than an alkaline battery can dish out. If you buy the NiMh battery charger and a spare set of batteries you will not have any problems. I have been 2 weeks on my fully charged mah 1600 batteries and they are still performing well, and I always use the LCD all the time, and have even used the 2x digital zoom. This camera takes some of the most vivid, in-depth photos I have seen on a low-end priced digital camera. It's small compact size makes it fun to carry everywhere you go. I would highly reccomend this camera to beginner and novice alike.