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”
I also have this Traveler camera from Aldi. I work for Aldi so I know we get really great electronics. If an item is 3 months old and hasn’t sold we can mark it down which is why it was so cheap. I agree this is an awesome camera. I dropped mine when I first got it and called the company, they sent me a brand new one. Mine is a year and a half old with lots of use so I am running into the dead battery problem now. But I saw a link to order new ones so I will do that. We (Aldi) had a 8.0 this year but they sold like hotcakes. I know I love mine though
I purchased the Traveler from Aldi and have had an excellent experience.
However both batteries appear to have died on the same day.
I am about to purchase another battery see if the camera works, if not I will introduce the camera to the garbage.
Ral – While your comment about charging batteries made sense in the NiCad world a few years ago, it’s less relevant in the days of today’s Lithium Ion batteries.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t true at all, it just means that they are much less likely to develop a memory than the NiCad batteries that we all know and love.
I have a Traveler 5X Slimline 5.2 Miplex. I like the camera, but I have a problem. Maybe someone can help. My outside pictures are too dark. It doesn’t matter whether the sun is behind me side or in front, it doesn’t always have a good picture. One time it will and others it won’t. Any suggestions?
I also purchased a Traveler Slimline x5 from Aldi over 12 months ago, I experienced a problem with it and returned it to the manufacturers in Germany following a call to the helpline. The camera was replaced with a NEW one without delay, an outstanding after sales service is provided.
Re: Batteries. Never charge batteries unless they are totally depleted as this shortens their life span. Think of a battery as a memory chip – if the battery has 25% charge left when you recharge it. The next time you charge it will only charge 75% of it’s cells – losing 25% of it’s life.
I purchased the x5 slimline in February 2006. I used it for 2 weeks and the flash went out. I had to send it back and it took 3 MONTHS for me to receive my camera. It had to be replaced, not repaired. Something about they were on backorder and then they had a hold-up in customs. I know its not their fault, but it did upset me. They had the camera longer than i did.Customer service was great and had low hold times.
I had this Traveler 6.31 for about two years. About a year ago the LCD screen froze up but Aldi’s replaced the camera as part of 3 year warranty.
Now the camera appears to operate on a very slow shutter speed. It also appears that shutter is almost a second delayed once I press the button to take pictures. Because of this many of my pictures come blurry (once I click the button, I move but the camera is not done taking the picture).
Does anyone has this problem and solution to this?
Thanks
RS
I had a 6.3 mp but aldi then got in an 8.1 m.p.with a 2.5 screen, and a docking station. It’s normal to turn off if you are not shooting. I have increased the time from 1 to 2 minutes before it turns off. I thought this was normal with all digital cameras.
We are thinking about buying a Traveler 8.1 megapixel digital camera and kit from Aldis. Has anyone used this? What are your thoughts? Price is $229-3 yr warranty. What are the pros and cons? Thanks!