Steps in purchasing a digital camera -
Step 1 - decide you want a digital camera
Step 2 - try out the cheapest you can find
Step 3 - be disappointed with the results
Step 4 - put off the purchase
Step 5 - try a better camera, like it, but not enough to bust $100 on it.
Step 6 - help a friend with her digital camera and really like it!
Step 7 - discover that she spent more than you pay on two months rent for her camera
Step 8 - try other cameras, facing inevitable disappointment.
Step 9 - put off the purchase another year....
This is the method I have been using... the only camera that filled me with joy belongs to a friend, and she spent $1,200 on a really good Canon SLR. It felt solid. It was weird showing someone how to use a camera when I don't even own one myself.
Explaining that you never take one picture, take a bunch, then pick the best to process. How to frame an image in the viewfinder, and when to turn the camera for a portrait shot instead of landscape. Then showing her how to use the photo software. Fun though. She came back from Jamaica with a lot of photos. 
The Auld Grump
