Same here. Drives me nuts!
We have the Kodak EasyShare Z712IS. The Kodak (nonrechargeable) battery that came in it worked fine. Lots of photos and lots of videos.
When it was gone we got a RadioShack non-rechargeable. Very few photos and almost no videos and it was gone.
We now have a generic rechargeable. I can get 10 to 12 photos on one charge.
I thought it must be the camera but maybe it is not.
I haven't tried the Kodak rechargeable but maybe I will have to use Kodak since it is a Kodak camera?
I am happy to see this post. All thoughts and ideas are appreciated.