Kodak Photo-CD: Good or Bad?

[Pat White]

I've had quite a few pictures scanned onto PhotoCD, but it's much less expensive to have it done at time of developing:  $.60 per image instead of $2 per image, plus $17 for the CD (prices in Cdn $). The choice of 5 resolutions is handy, as "large" (4 meg) is adequate for 5x7s, and lets my old P166 mmx run much faster, while "full" (18 meg) gives very good quality 8x10s.    The images always need the contrast adjusted (I use "tone" in PhotoMAX Pro") to print properly, but with a bit of practice, it takes very little time.  I rarely use Photoshop as I find it very cumbersome and difficult to print from.  Kodak says that the CD will hold a maximum of 100 images, but on my last one, there was a communication mix-up (the counter staff at Shoppers Drug Mart don't get many PhotoCD orders, and aren't sure how to write up the envelope) and I wound up with 136 images on a single CD.  They seem to display and print just fine, although I haven't checked every single image.   I appreciate the savings in time.  How long would it take to scan 100 or so images at around 2500 dpi resolution (or whatever 2048x 3072 works out to)?  The turnaround at the drugstore is about 8-10 days, but I don't spend a week in front of the computer this way, nor do I fill up my 2 gig hard drive, as I only save pictures that require more than 10 minutes of tweaking.  My 2 cents worth.   Pat White