Best digital camera under £100

[LazyNinja]

As the title says, opinions wanted on cheap but cheerful digital cameras. Going on a holiday soon so I want a standalone camera cos at the moment most of the time I just use my camera phone. I want something solid and reliable. Cool looks would be a plus. What's a good brand to go for?

I came up with this shortlist so far after a look on ebuyer:
Samsung S830 8mp 3x Optical Zoom
Kodak Easyshare Z1275 12mp 5x Optical Zoom
Olympus FE-310 8mp 5x Optical Zoom Digital Camera - Black
Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z9 Black 8.1mp 3x Optical Zoom

cheers

[_tom_]

I have my sisters old Casio exilim and I think it does great photos and is really easy to use. However my mum got one of the newer models and I dont like it as much. Bit slower and the images appear grainier sometimes.

Not too exciting but I took this with the older model, tried to make a panorama but I couldnt get the edges to blend together that well!

[LazyNinja]

Bought the kodak after a little more research, got it yesterday and immediately hated it :( The case felt plasticcy and fragile, made of the kind of material that you get on cheap mp3 players. The buttons didnt press and click firmly they sort of tilt, squidge and squeak :x The preview LCD screen is VERY poor. It is fairly big but the resolution is shitee. No way to tell if the pics you took are decent or not because it appears so grainy and fuzzy. I remember my phone from about 4 years ago having similar resolution. At this point I was fed up with it so I didn't bother to transfer the pics to the PC. Even if they did turn out decent I would still not like the camera even if it was very cheap. Im returning it and gonna buy a different one from a shop in the next couple of days instead. Very dissapointed with Kodak. expected better from such a big brand and now I know why there were so many A grade refurb units.

[ToneMonkey]

My mates just said that he just got a decent one in Tesco for next to nothing.  As much as I hate Tesco :shock:, might be worth looking there.

[Kilby]

I would suggest looking for a Canon Ixus, you can usually find 'old stock' if you look around

Decent quality lens and good image, metal case and starts up in just under 1 second

Also try morgans as they do overstock, old stock and factory refurbished kit (theyre in London & Birmingham, check out their flyer there http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/news/article.asp?NewsArticleID=93

Rob...

[38thBeatle]

I agree with Rob about the Ixus-well made, good features, easy to use and great quality.

[LazyNinja]

Im running out of time so I can't buy online now. Ixus seems nice but might be a bit out of my price range. I think Im gonna gamble on finding something nice at Dixons at Manchester Airport. Tax free shop ftw! Should be able to recoup the losses I made on the postage. If I dont find something too nice I'll have to resort to my camera phone again but 3mp isnt too bad.

[badgermark]

I love having friends that are managers of shops. My good buddy is the manager of the biggest Jesspos branch in Glasgow and scored me a Nikon Coolpics 8mp something plus memory and a Crumpler bag thing all for under the rrp of the camera, ended up being around £110.

I love it anyway, Nikon make pretty good gear, mine is reliable and sturdy, while staying compact.