The easy way to do it is to buy a PictBridge printer, available from various manufacturers, including HP. With a PictBridge printer, you really don't even need a computer. These printers allow you to put the camera's memory card directly into a slot on the printer and print from there. Some of these printers offer little video screens which allow you to preview the pictures and/or perform very limited image manipulation.

As for the camera battery, there may be aftermarket replacement batteries (of various levels of quality) available for your Oly. Quite honestly, though, one of the attractions of my Canon digital is that it uses four AA cells, be they alkaline or NiMH or whatever. I'm not tied to Canon for a dependable replacement battery pack. You could look around Web sites/stores which sell digital cameras and/or eBay to see who may sell a replacement pack. But I'd consider a proprietary battery pack a strike against any electronic device.

My Olympus Ultra-Zoom (the C-730, two years old) uses rechargeable AA batteries, and they're very handy. My second Olympus, the C-5500 (still in its box) uses them, too.

My son gave me a neat printer for my birthday. It's made by Sony and uses dyes instead of ink. The result looks like what the labs produce, and has a much longer life than anything produced on an ink jet. Sorry I don't have the model number for you. It's silver and is fairly small. Mine prints no larger than 4x6. For larger, I take them elsewhere anyway.

My favorite photo software is Photoshop Elements, about $50 at Sam's Club. I'm sure there are other good programs out there as well. Incidentally, I paid the $20 or whatever it was for the Olympus Camedia software upgrade, but still found the program disappointing. Others have said the same thing.

Good luck!

Susan

Thank you Steve and Susan. The extra batteries are sold at Amazon.com for $30.00 so if I get this camera I will buy an extra battery and keep it fully charged and keep the recharger with me. I'm replacing my Olympus C-700 which was stolen last week during a break-in of our house. :-( I loved that camera. The professional reviews I've read don't seem to have anything bad to say about the battery and they like the camera. I guess I'm sentimental about getting an Olympus again because I liked the one that's missing and it was a birthday gift from my husband.

Thanks also for the comments about a printer and photo software.

Jen

Try www.picasa2.com. It's a program from Google. It is simple, fast and free.

I agree with Don about going for Picasa. It's got the best photo filing layout around, very easy to find what you have imported to it. It even has a good selection of tools to edit your photos. Photoshop elements is a good program, but it is more for someone who wants to do major photo work, and can spend the time to fully learn how to use it.

GG

Thanks Don and GG. Sounds great. Does Picasa support any digital camera photos? i.e. Can I just skip the Camedia software installation that will come with the new Olympus I'm planning to buy this week? :-)

Jen

Jen,

I'm not sure if you can skip installing the Camedia software. There may be functions like panorama stitching that may only be done with the program installed. I have a Canon that uses Arcsoft as the camera software and that seems to require this program installed to do that. For most all of my photo importing, I use the card slot on the printer. Files on the flashcard can be sent to your photo program such as Picasa, from there. You may have to install Camedia if you import files with the camera plugged into the computer. It's been a while since I installed the Canon photo software, so I'm just going by what I remember.

GG

Thanks GG. I took a look at the Picasa page and it looks like a super tool, but I couldn't find a link to purchase it. I found only the download link. However I will try at least the download link.

Thanks again,
Jen

Jen,

It's freeware now.

I tried the original version for a trial period when it was a shareware program last year. When Google bought it and offered the program free, I jumped on that right away. Since then, they upgraded it to Picasa 2 with all the additional tools. I think you'll find it very enjoyable to work with. Good luck!

GG

Thanks GG. I can't wait to try it, it sounds like a super tool.

Jen

Jen, this is probably too late, but have you considered the C-765? I'm wondering if it uses AA batteries, which would be so convenient. The features of the 765 and the 770 are very similar--almost identical. One reviewer suggested the buyer be very sure he or she wants the additional features of the 770, because most won't find them worth the additional cost.

I've been researching cameras for myself for weeks, and everything I read makes me more impressed with my C-730 and its later versions, the 765 and 770. I think I'll stick with what I've got for now.

Susan

Susan, I have considered the C-765 but I do like some of the things offered with the C-770 such as the all-metal body and enhanced movie mode. Though my old camera had a movie mode and I never used it. :-/ I loved my c-700 and never considered replacing it. I liked it's bulkier body than the newer 765 and 770 too, the smaller cameras just seem too small in my hands and they seem to get lost in Hubby's huge hands. I particularly liked the area on the front right side that you wrap your fingers around -- it's MUCH smaller on the 765 and 770 and doesn't feel the same at all.

However, the 765 and 770 get excellent reviews. When comparing the reviews with some of the other more popular cameras, image quality is often better.

I'm now considering holding out for the new Canon PowerShot S2 IS to be released in late June, but I'd really like a camera before that.

Another consideration: Our computer is older (Dell Dimensions 400) and I'm wondering how I can upload pictures from the camera to the computer without a USB cable. We will have to add a new board to support the USB 2.0 cable that comes with the camera and I'd rather not do that because we are planning to upgrade the computer anyway, just not right away. We don't have a printer with card slot. Is there any other way???

Jen