Nice pictures, sleek looking, nothing more

I do not know all the fancy photography lingo, don't know the terms for all the camera parts, so I will make this easy to read for those that share my lack of camera knowledge. (So when you see, "thingy", "thingamajig", or something of that nature....the knowledgeable camera folks will not have a clue as to what I am referring to, but those lacking the same knowledge as myself, will probably understand very well).

I might not know the ends and outs of cameras, but I do know what I like, and what is easy-to-use, and what takes great pictures.

I have a decent Konica Minolta Dimage Z10, that I have loved for the past couple of years, but due to the bulkiness of the camera, the "not-so-fast" back to back picture taking, I wanted something small, easy to tote around, and possibly put in my pocket if need be. So, here is my critique of the Kodak V1003:

The camera is beautiful. It comes in a number of colors, and is a nice size for carrying around easily. When the lighting and settings are right, the photos are spectacular! I cannot complain about the quality of the pictures this thing takes.

Now, this is why I do NOT like the camera:
I have the coffee color. Beautiful dark bronze/copper color, but fingerprints quickly diminish the awesome look of the camera, and all I personally tend to focus on, (cosmetically) are the fingerprints I have to continuously wipe off. This is in part due to the dark color, PLUS the "clear coat", super-smooth finish. I do think the light colors would be less of a problem in this area though.

The flash is in a bad location. There's nowhere to conveniently place your finger, and it often gets placed right in front of the flash, and isn't realized til it's too late. This also goes for the lens. When you turn the camera on, it's too easy to accidentally leave your finger on the telescoping lens thingy. I would imagine, over time, this would affect the lens area from functioning properly. This might be a problem only a few suffer from though, so this isn't the worst of the bad.

This camera is also slow in taking pictures back-to-back. It takes a bit too long to get focused and to snap the picture to make it impressive to the user. Though, you will probably be impressed by the photo itself. I do like the fact that it comes with a rechargeable battery, however, it doesn't last incredibly long. This might be because I'm used to the Konica that has an impressive battery life. I am still not thrilled with how fast the battery starts losing it's "juice" before it needs to be recharged.

Next, getting the photos transferred to the computer....this is a s.....l.....o.....w process! The photo software isn't anything to be impressed by either. There are far more programs that make it MUCH easier to edit, view, and tinker with, than the program provided with this camera.

Overall, I would say that this camera is ok for someone that hasn't had a digital before. The pictures are great, but the camera's functions aren't well designed, the software stinks, and there isn't any room to put fingers that otherwise, tend to get in the way of the camera.