El cheapo camera, need recommendations!

Hi, I'm looking to buy my 9 year old nephew a new digital camera for
Christmas. I got him a JamCam 2.0 2 years ago, and although I'm
pleased that it survived this long, I was pained to hear recently that
he loves the thing to death and still uses it all the time to make
"movies" of his siblings by taking pictures and showing them on his
computer like a slide show. Because man, this thing is a total piece
of crap!

So, I have resolved to get him a real digital camera for Christmas
this year. I don't want another "kid's" camera. He's smart, and he's
careful, so I want one with real features that he can grow with.
However, it's been a couple years since I did any camera shopping, and
I'd like some suggestions of what models I should start looking at.

Here are the requirements (if I can get them in my price range

A "real" camera, not a "kid's" camera.
2MP is fine, 3MP is better.
Flash.
Autofocus, autoexposure.
Good low-light focusing (which still ticks me off about my S330.)
Optical zoom not needed, but at least 2x digital would be good.
Must make movies with sound, 30+ sec. clips (no speaker needed.)
Easy to use software and menus.
LCD not strictly needed, but might be nice.
Can connect with USB cable only, since he does that already.
No easy-to-break things like pop-up flash, cheesy battery door, etc.
Would be great to come with rechargeable batteries, biggest card poss.

And last but not least, I'd like a new camera with warranty that's
under US$100. But in reality, I guess refurbished and open-box
specials are OK, as long as it still has an actual manufacturer's
warranty for _some_ amount of time. I'm thinking HP, Kodak, along
those lines will be the most likely possibilites.

Sound like a pipe dream? Well, it definitely was last time, hence the
JamSpam 2002... But I'm hoping now that prices on at least a few
models have come down enough!

BTW, in case someone is going to suggest it, I don't want "used" (hey,
it's a gift,) and I hate bidding on eBay auctions, so it's unlikely
I'd do that, though "Buy It Now" is cool. There's just no way I can
research all the models listed without going nuts!

Thanks for any help!

Kristen

--
"Who is the patriot, I ask you? Those who wrap themselves in the flag and pledge
allegiance to it, or those who keep the pledge and wrap themselves in what the
flag represents?" -Ira Glasser

"Kristen" wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm looking to buy my 9 year old nephew a new digital camera for
Christmas. I got him a JamCam 2.0 2 years ago, and although I'm
pleased that it survived this long, I was pained to hear recently that
he loves the thing to death and still uses it all the time to make
"movies" of his siblings by taking pictures and showing them on his
computer like a slide show. Because man, this thing is a total piece
of crap!

So, I have resolved to get him a real digital camera for Christmas
this year. I don't want another "kid's" camera. He's smart, and he's
careful, so I want one with real features that he can grow with.
However, it's been a couple years since I did any camera shopping, and
I'd like some suggestions of what models I should start looking at.

Here are the requirements (if I can get them in my price range

A "real" camera, not a "kid's" camera.
2MP is fine, 3MP is better.
Flash.
Autofocus, autoexposure.
Good low-light focusing (which still ticks me off about my S330.)
Optical zoom not needed, but at least 2x digital would be good.
Must make movies with sound, 30+ sec. clips (no speaker needed.)
Easy to use software and menus.
LCD not strictly needed, but might be nice.
Can connect with USB cable only, since he does that already.
No easy-to-break things like pop-up flash, cheesy battery door, etc.
Would be great to come with rechargeable batteries, biggest card poss.

And last but not least, I'd like a new camera with warranty that's
under US$100. But in reality, I guess refurbished and open-box
specials are OK, as long as it still has an actual manufacturer's
warranty for _some_ amount of time. I'm thinking HP, Kodak, along
those lines will be the most likely possibilites.


Maybe not impossible at that price range, but the first $100 digicam my
husband bought me basically stunk. I finally passed it on to my poor nephew.
I'm not sure how much he likes it . . . I only hear phrases like "it's
better than nothing." Ah well, gratitude these days . . .

You may get a few recommendations from posters in this ng but most tend to
have researched and purchased cameras in a slightly higher price range. So
be prepared to do a little legwork on your own.

For starters, you can shop by price or MP at:

http://shopper.cnet.com/Digital_came...l?tag=shfd.dir
http://www50.shopping.com/xPP-Digita...kin_id-3053120
http://dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp This site requires you to narrow you
specifications quite a bit. They only return 10 results per search

After you narrow it down a bit, you can then start reading their reviews at

http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_came...html?tag=glnav
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://dpreview.com/reviews/

There's tons of other sites out there as well.

Then post some of the choices you've narrowed it down to here, in order to
get feedback from people on them.

Good Luck

Renee

If you want to get him a true digital camera that he won't outgrow in a year
or two and offers more features than just point and shoot, you need to spend
at least $200 or more. Your son sounds well worthy of a good camera. Kodak,
HP, and Canon all have nice low end point and shoot digitals for around
$200. Kodak makes fine well built digitals that last for the price.

"Kristen" wrote in message
...

Here are the requirements (if I can get them in my price range

A "real" camera, not a "kid's" camera.

Hi, I'm looking to buy my 9 year old nephew a new digital camera for
Christmas. I got him a JamCam 2.0 2 years ago, and although I'm
pleased that it survived this long, I was pained to hear recently that
he loves the thing to death and still uses it all the time to make
"movies" of his siblings by taking pictures and showing them on his
computer like a slide show. Because man, this thing is a total piece
of crap!

So, I have resolved to get him a real digital camera for Christmas
this year. I don't want another "kid's" camera. He's smart, and he's
careful, so I want one with real features that he can grow with.
However, it's been a couple years since I did any camera shopping, and
I'd like some suggestions of what models I should start looking at.

Here are the requirements (if I can get them in my price range

A "real" camera, not a "kid's" camera.
2MP is fine, 3MP is better.
Flash.
Autofocus, autoexposure.
Good low-light focusing (which still ticks me off about my S330.)
Optical zoom not needed, but at least 2x digital would be good.
Must make movies with sound, 30+ sec. clips (no speaker needed.)
Easy to use software and menus.
LCD not strictly needed, but might be nice.
Can connect with USB cable only, since he does that already.
No easy-to-break things like pop-up flash, cheesy battery door, etc.
Would be great to come with rechargeable batteries, biggest card poss.

And last but not least, I'd like a new camera with warranty that's
under US$100. But in reality, I guess refurbished and open-box
specials are OK, as long as it still has an actual manufacturer's
warranty for _some_ amount of time. I'm thinking HP, Kodak, along
those lines will be the most likely possibilites.

Sound like a pipe dream? Well, it definitely was last time, hence the
JamSpam 2002... But I'm hoping now that prices on at least a few
models have come down enough!

BTW, in case someone is going to suggest it, I don't want "used" (hey,
it's a gift,) and I hate bidding on eBay auctions, so it's unlikely
I'd do that, though "Buy It Now" is cool. There's just no way I can
research all the models listed without going nuts!


Get hold of a Nikon CoolPix 2100, they can be had in the UK for less than
GBP 80

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90133920

Good deal Great Camera

"Kristen" wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm looking to buy my 9 year old nephew a new digital camera for
Christmas. ...

Circuit City is selling aKodak 3.2 mp camera for $99.99
starting Sunday. The ad doesn't give the model number,
but it appears to have a flash.

If it's a Kodak, it can't be too bad.

Alan

"Alan Meyer" schreef in bericht
...

"Kristen" wrote in message
...
Hi, I'm looking to buy my 9 year old nephew a new digital camera for
Christmas. ...

Circuit City is selling aKodak 3.2 mp camera for $99.99
starting Sunday. The ad doesn't give the model number,
but it appears to have a flash.

If it's a Kodak, it can't be too bad.

Alan


You can try to have a look at www.dpreview.com and do the Buying guide -
feature search.
I entered that it should be able to take movies, and be under 400, a canon
powershot A310 was the least expensive at $140 ro something ( you can
compare prices at www.epinions.com )

If you search a little harder than I did, read the reviews and take a look
at the sample pictures I think you should find a great one

K.

You can try to have a look at www.dpreview.com and do the Buying guide -
feature search.
I entered that it should be able to take movies, and be under 400, a canon
powershot A310 was the least expensive at $140 ro something ( you can
compare prices at www.epinions.com )

Not to stomp your reply, but I had the Canon A300 (same basic creature)
and it was an extreme dog. The sample pictures online look great, but
the real thing is pathetic.

You can try to have a look at www.dpreview.com and do the Buying guide -
feature search.
I entered that it should be able to take movies, and be under 400, a canon
powershot A310 was the least expensive at $140 ro something ( you can
compare prices at www.epinions.com )

Not to stomp your reply, but I had the Canon A300 (same basic creature)
and it was an extreme dog. The sample pictures online look great, but
the real thing is pathetic.

In article ,
says...

You can try to have a look at www.dpreview.com and do the Buying guide -
feature search.
I entered that it should be able to take movies, and be under 400, a canon
powershot A310 was the least expensive at $140 ro something ( you can
compare prices at www.epinions.com )

Not to stomp your reply, but I had the Canon A300 (same basic creature)
and it was an extreme dog. The sample pictures online look great, but
the real thing is pathetic.

I have been surpised by the excellent quality shots I have taken with my
A310. It does not have a zoom, which is fine with me as I mostly "see"
pictures at the semi-wide angle.