Kodak PalmPix
Is this just the coolest or what!
(all the pictures at the end of the review were taken with the PalmPix camera)
The Kodak PalmPix has got to be one of the coolest accessories for the Palm to come around in a long time. Simply put, it turns your Palm into a usable camera-sort of. My evaluation unit arrived packaged in the commercial box, with batteries, the camera and an installation CD included. Everything looks great and I couldn't wait to get it all up and running.
The module itself is small, no bigger than the snap on modem really. Inside is a lens, two AAA batteries and all the electronics that make it happen. Everything else is handled by the Palm via a small application that you load on your device.
Installation is a snap, you simple install the PalmPix application on your Palm and snap on the camera. Run the application and soon you will see a gray scale image of whatever you have the lens pointed at. To pull up the viewfinder, you simply press the datebook button. To snap the picture, you push the datebook button again. After a brief moment where the image is captured and transferred to your Palm, you are ready to take another picture. The pictures are not bad for only being 640x480 however you need LOTS of light. Indoor shots look terrible, but outside, in bright light, the images are suitable for web pages and general use. There is also a 320x240 feature that allows more images to be stored, however the image is so small and of unpredictable quality that it's hardly worth bothering with. An additional feature that is kind of cool is a timer. You get about 10 seconds to carefully balance the camera/palm then run over to where you need to stand to be in the picture. It's a nice feature, but I'd prefer a flash-something that is sorely missing, and ultimately counts as a major drawback.
Complaints
I have heard rumors that the spring snaps on the PalmPix module are too tight and cause cracks in the Palm case. I did notice it was a very tight fit, and sometimes it seemed so tight the module wasn't seated properly. I didn't experience the cracks, but caveat emptor.
One recurring problem that I experienced was 'loss of communication with device' I don't know what caused this, but it happened about 25% of the time(too high) and was very annoying. I kept trying to re-seat the camera module, but that didn't necessarily help.
One cautionary note-if you think this device is for you, make sure you have some way to squeeze out enough memory to store your pictures. On my unadulterated Palm IIIx with a moderate amount of applications loaded, the best I could do was 8 pictures. Obviously, many people now have the upgraded 8 meg units, so the number of pictures will be greatly increased. Something like a Flashplug, axxPAC or a TRGPro might be the way to go. You definitely need to be able to offload your pictures while you are in between hotsyncs so that you can keep using the camera.
Survey says....
Finally, the price. At $179 the PalmPix is not cheap, and I wonder if you wouldn't jut be better off with a dedicated digital camera that is separate from your Palm. Some of the new megapixel cameras are as low as $300 and they are immensely better than the PalmPix. The PalmPix would be much more attractive if it were in the sub $100 range, which is similar to what most other 640x480 cameras are going for today.
The Kodak PalmPix is available through Kodak as well as several online retailers and outlets such as Best Buy. It retails at $179.
What I like
It's just so cool!
Small and lightweight
10 second timer
What I don't like
Expensive
Picture quality is only adequate
No flash
Refresh rate is slow and the preview screen is very poor quality
3 out of 5 rating
NOTE: All these images have been resized to fit on the page. The normal images are either 640x480 or 320x240.
Is this just the coolest or what!
(all the pictures at the end of the review were taken with the PalmPix camera)
The Kodak PalmPix has got to be one of the coolest accessories for the Palm to come around in a long time. Simply put, it turns your Palm into a usable camera-sort of. My evaluation unit arrived packaged in the commercial box, with batteries, the camera and an installation CD included. Everything looks great and I couldn't wait to get it all up and running.
The module itself is small, no bigger than the snap on modem really. Inside is a lens, two AAA batteries and all the electronics that make it happen. Everything else is handled by the Palm via a small application that you load on your device.
Installation is a snap, you simple install the PalmPix application on your Palm and snap on the camera. Run the application and soon you will see a gray scale image of whatever you have the lens pointed at. To pull up the viewfinder, you simply press the datebook button. To snap the picture, you push the datebook button again. After a brief moment where the image is captured and transferred to your Palm, you are ready to take another picture. The pictures are not bad for only being 640x480 however you need LOTS of light. Indoor shots look terrible, but outside, in bright light, the images are suitable for web pages and general use. There is also a 320x240 feature that allows more images to be stored, however the image is so small and of unpredictable quality that it's hardly worth bothering with. An additional feature that is kind of cool is a timer. You get about 10 seconds to carefully balance the camera/palm then run over to where you need to stand to be in the picture. It's a nice feature, but I'd prefer a flash-something that is sorely missing, and ultimately counts as a major drawback.
Complaints
I have heard rumors that the spring snaps on the PalmPix module are too tight and cause cracks in the Palm case. I did notice it was a very tight fit, and sometimes it seemed so tight the module wasn't seated properly. I didn't experience the cracks, but caveat emptor.
One recurring problem that I experienced was 'loss of communication with device' I don't know what caused this, but it happened about 25% of the time(too high) and was very annoying. I kept trying to re-seat the camera module, but that didn't necessarily help.
One cautionary note-if you think this device is for you, make sure you have some way to squeeze out enough memory to store your pictures. On my unadulterated Palm IIIx with a moderate amount of applications loaded, the best I could do was 8 pictures. Obviously, many people now have the upgraded 8 meg units, so the number of pictures will be greatly increased. Something like a Flashplug, axxPAC or a TRGPro might be the way to go. You definitely need to be able to offload your pictures while you are in between hotsyncs so that you can keep using the camera.
Survey says....
Finally, the price. At $179 the PalmPix is not cheap, and I wonder if you wouldn't jut be better off with a dedicated digital camera that is separate from your Palm. Some of the new megapixel cameras are as low as $300 and they are immensely better than the PalmPix. The PalmPix would be much more attractive if it were in the sub $100 range, which is similar to what most other 640x480 cameras are going for today.
The Kodak PalmPix is available through Kodak as well as several online retailers and outlets such as Best Buy. It retails at $179.
What I like
It's just so cool!
Small and lightweight
10 second timer
What I don't like
Expensive
Picture quality is only adequate
No flash
Refresh rate is slow and the preview screen is very poor quality
3 out of 5 rating
NOTE: All these images have been resized to fit on the page. The normal images are either 640x480 or 320x240.
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| This is a picture of my backyard, taken outside. Notice the red color shift. |
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| This is a picture of my daughter Sydney, taken inside, zoomed. | This is virtually the same picture without the zoom. |
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Another outdoor picture of my garden, full sunlight.
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Here's a picture, using the timer. It's hard to balance the palm and camera combo, then run back to be in the picture. This was taken inside and the color and clarity is noticeably diminished.
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