With all of Peter‘s talk about his digital cameras, I figured I’d throw my own hat into the ring.
A few weeks ago, I purchased a Traveler 6.31 Megapixel Digital Camera, from, of all places, Aldi. As mentioned in the comments, the camera appears to be a rebranded Vivitar Vivicam 4000.
Thus far, the camera has worked wonderfully. To start with, it came loaded with accessories – 2 Lithium Ion batteries and charger, a car adapter for charging on the go, a small carrying case with belt loop and plenty of cables for connecting your camera. The 128MB SD card was a bit small, but I have others (more on those another time).
The quality of the pictures has been solid, but I must admit that I haven’t used it nearly as much as I should have. I’ll try and put it through some paces one of these days.
As I understand it, this camera went for $269 over the Christmas holidays, and even at that price it would seem to be a pretty good deal. When I bought mine, they were apparently clearing them out, because it cost only $169, making it seem like a complete steal. I’m very happy with it thus far, but I’ll keep you posted on that if it changes.
Update May 26, 2006: I encountered the “take a couple pictures and the battery dies” problem myself. Thus far, no resolution. It seems that I can take somewhere between two and five pictures and then the camera shuts down, despite the battery having a seemingly full charge.
Luckily the batteries used by the camera are fairly common, though somewhat less so in the US than in the UK. I have found them here (charger here if you need one).
Free shipping on orders over $50, though I’m not sure how long that offer lasts. I’ve used this site before, and their products seem to work just fine – or they have in the past, at any rate. Let me know your experience if you use them and I can update the information here. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll invest more money in this camera or get a new one.
Update August 8, 2006: I ended up purchasing two of the batteries and a new charger from Atbatt.com (as linked above). I used them somewhat extensively on a trip last week, and they worked wonderfully. I have tried charging the old batteries, and they still aren’t working too well, but at least the camera is working again.
Update: Alas, the camera itself finally died, due to my own problems (I dropped it). For some reason, the camera works to some degree – it will go through menus and whatnot, but it won’t actually go through with the taking of any pictures or anything. So I’ve moved on. I have another Traveler camera, and I’ll post a review of it soon. It does not take these batteries, however, so if anyone needs any, contact me using the link below if you need some and make me a fair offer if you’re interested.
Update: The camera and all accessories have been sold. Thanks!
Comments
96 responses to “Traveler Digital Camera”
Traveler purchased through ALDI’S has given excellent performance and results. Use camera for work, taking over 50photos per day. Only issue encountered is the fact that the battery life has deminished to 10-15min. Looking for replacment battery if anyone knows where to purchase. Who would have thought, such a great value and product, at ALDI’S?!!
I lost my usb cord and tried to replace it with one at radioshack. no luck. one fit in the slot but would not connect right or something any suggestions on where to find a new one? They don’t offer them for sale on the manufacturer’s website.
I use this camera extensively, almost every day for a variety of pictures. The only negative I have is that when using the camera to preview the pictures, if the resolution is high, it might take a few seconds for each picture to load. This camera is absolutely dynamite for the price. I am told this brand has been sold in Europe for years and has a solid history. I know it works great and the quality is superb. I do not know of any other brand one might purchase at this price for this quality of camera – 6.1 is considered high end. Do not be afraid to grab one.
Any comments on Picture quiality??
I googled for this model and some of the online pictures were very poor….
Any info welcome…
I’ve read all your comments with much interest–thanks very much just what i needed to make my mind up , to go out and get one myself..on sale 2nd june 05 in our local ALDI 149.99…From England as you can see…
Thanks for that info!
Didn’t know that rollei doesn’t produce their own digital cameras, like they do with their other ones..
It is not true that the Slimline X5 is manufactured by Rollei.
Rollei, Aldi, Maginon, Minox etc. buy this camera from an OEM manufacturer in Taiwan: Premier Image Technology Corp.
The model number of the Slimline X5 is Premier DS 5341.
Premier’s company profile says: “Established in 1983, Premier Image Technology Corp. (Premier) is now the leading digital still camera (DSC) manufacturer in Taiwan, as well as the biggest compact camera manufacturer in the world with more than 15% of global market share.”
To Jason:
Change your folder options to show all hidden files and folders
Plug in camera with black adapter via USB press power and select pc go to device manager select USB Controller doubleclick Unknown Device select Driver Tab uninstall unplug camera
————-
then
————-
go to c:windowsinf
delete INFCACHE.1
empty recycle bin
————-
restart computer
————-
plug in camera with black adapter via usb press power and select pc
camera should show as removable media now
in my case this worked fine with the adapter, but not for the dockingstation. maybe mine is damaged or something, since it should work this way too.
if you have further questions, post them here!!
————————
————————
To everybody:
The Traveler Slimline X5 is originally a Rollei dp5200 camera.
Rollei is a traditional german company that has been around for decades.
Rollei has a brilliant reputation regarding anything that involves cameras.
Personally I am very surprised, that they sold this camera for that rediculous cheap price at Aldi.
here’s the link to the original manufactor
I took 25+ photos and 4 came out green. Any clue what caused this? The camera is new and the flash is working.
I purchased the Slimline X5 and what a great camera so far if I could just get my Windows XP PC to recognize the camera now. NO driver needed for XP and am using the docking station and without. Can someone help please?