It took me 6 months to decide upon and purchase a digital camera. I purchased a used
Kodak DC-4800 off E-bay in April for half of the new price and could not be happier. Its a 3.1 MP camera with lots of options for custom settings and has a very easy to navigate UI which is great for my wife who hates complex electronics. Heck even my 5 year old son has taken a few good pictures with this camera. I added a 128 MB memory card from Fry's Electronics for $35.00 and can take 120 high resolution pictures or something like 300 low res. Good luck.