Casio Exilim EX-Z1050 review

I don't usually write product reviews, but I wanted to share about this one in case you happen to be in the market for a digital camera and are thinking of getting the Casio Exilim EX-Z1050.

We've had the Casio Exilim EX-Z3 (my first digital camera) for about 5 years until recently when it stopped focusing. Jean wanted to get me a replacement as my birthday gift this year, so we decided on getting another Exilim since we liked the old one we had and it would mean a shorter learning ramp for both of us. Jean being a creature of habit and doesn't like changes.

When I did my research few months back, the latest Z1050 looked great. Not sure why I would need 10.1 MP, but what the heck! Everything is still great about it, but my only complaint is this... The battery needs to be recharged externally (charger provided)!

Now this doesn't seem like a big deal when we first bought it. We thought, "hmm, that's a great feature, now the charging dock is not as bulky as the old one" But then the reality sets in... One of two things always happen to me:

1. I leave the battery in the camera after downloading all the pics onto the computer (via USB port), and forget to turn off the camera (probably my fault..). Battery drains out completely.
2. I take the battery out and leave it on the external charger. Good idea, right? Nope! Days after when I try to put the battery back into the camera, the camera needs to be reset all over again, starting with date/time setting, timezone, etc.

The morale of the review is that I actually preferred the old dock which was used to both charge and download. We use to just pop the camera onto the dock, download the pics and it would be charged and ready to go next time. Now I have to actually think a bit about what to do...