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This camera is OK. The wide zoom and durability features are great for the way my department it - to take pictures of construction sites. There is one big problem, though: Olympus built software into this camera that prevents the xD card from being read in anything other than an Olympus card reader.
When I called Olympus tech support for a solution, their response was rude and aggravating. The tech basically told me they did this because they sell a card reader, and if I wanted to use a card reader, I had to buy theirs. Or, I could plug the camera into the PC. I sent the letter below to Olympus tech support email. It will be interesting to see if/how they respond.
MY LETTER TO OLYMPUS TECH SUPPORT AFTER A BAD TELEPHONE SUPPORT EXPERIENCE:
I just bought a new Stylus 1030SW for my department. I thought it was a great little camera, until I needed some tech support.
Here's the problem:
This is a department camera. The goal was to make it available to all of my product managers, and let each of them have their own storage cards. We need the ability to read the storage cards through a card reader, because plugging the camera into the PC is not practical. I've never had a problem with this in the past, and I own an Olympus C7070 Wide Zoom that works fine. Unfortunately, with this new Stylus, when I plug into the card reader, I get an error message that the card needs to be formatted. If I format the card in the reader, when I put it back in the camera, the camera says it needs to format the card. Ugh!
I need a solution that does not involve plugging the camera directly into the PC (impractical because the camera might be out on another job) and does not involve buying an additional card reader (impractical because I already have a multi-card reader plugged into my PC, and I use it to read cards from other cameras, and I don't need any more network drive conflicts right now).
Please provide an acceptable solution. I would hate to have to return this camera, because I like the size and functionality. I just don't like the inclusion of proprietary software that doesn't add any consumer benefits.
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