Whenever someone tells you that something is "easy," or "unique" (which is almost impossible), or even a "lifesaver," a little red flag should pop up saying, "proceed with caution."

Such is the case with the new Kodak EasyShare-one digital camera ($399) and Printer Dock Plus Series 3 Photo Printer ($179).

First, let me say that, when it comes to digital cameras and printers, this is the ultimate geek combo. There is no other camera on the market that can do some of the things this one does.

But easy? I'm afraid not!

The camera has tons of great features, including a large three-inch LCD touchscreen and Wi-Fi capabilities enabling it to connect to the printer and your PC wirelessly. It also takes extremely good photos, despite the fact that it is only rated at four magapixels.

Unfortunately, unless you have a degree in all things geek or the patience of a saint, getting the Wi-Fi features to work requires a bit of perseverance and possibly a large bottle of Excedrin.

Normally, you just enter the WEP number or passcode for your network and the device sees and uses it. Unfortunately that wasn't the case here, and it took awhile before we found a combination of keys that would work. Bluetooth, although a bit less reliable than Wi-Fi, would have been a lot easier to work with. But that's hindsight.

The printer produces nice, sharp 4x6 color prints, and will work with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, PictBridge and ImageLink compatible devices, eliminating the need for a computer.

Other features of this camera/printer combo include:

• An interactive LCD touchscreen and stylus lets you edit and organize up to 1,500 photos while they're still in the camera.
• Prints can be enlarged to 20x40 inches with little loss of quality.
• You can send and receive photos at any T-Mobile Hotlspot location or connect to a Kodak EasyShare Gallery account.
• Several on-camera picture enhancing features include red-eye reduction and cropping.
• Multiple scene and color modes give you additional control over your shots.
• The printer produces color, laminated photos in just 60 seconds.
• Pictures can be transferred from the printer to your computer at the touch of a button.
• Automatically recharge your camera while it's connected to the printer.
• Reduce red-eye at the touch of a button.

The choice is yours. If you want a digital camera that does things others can't, the EasyShare-one is the only game in town. Obviously this isn't for the squeamish or those with low boiling points. But, once it's set up the way you want it, be prepared for a whole new picture-taking experience.

More information can be found at www.kodak.com.

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