Help with camera selection.

Hey Everyone. I am looking to get my girlfriend a camera as she is going abroad for about 6 months. I am totally clueless about the P&S cameras and this is probably the best place for advice.

I guess I'll lay out the things I want.

1) Smallish Size.

2) 150-200$ in total with a decent memory card , battery and all. Even 200 is stretching my budget as I would like something around the 175 mark.

3) She is not very technological , so easy to use(I guess Auto mode and plugging into the computer is same for all cameras though).


4) you guys have to help me on this one. I prefer using Li-ion batteries or something like that on cameras. I just don't like AA or AAA batteries in cameras for some reason. But because she'll be traveling, should I get a camera with AA batteries because it's easy to find everywhere or just get her an extra battery.

Cheers.

The Canon A590IS is available on sale (Circuit City, Staples, Office Depot, etc.) for $149 and sometimes as low as $129. It does take AA batteries which is an advantage when traveling. Works well in Auto mode, but has some manual control for those who want it. Small, but larger than shirt pocket size. I carry mine when I don't want to lug the DSLR around. Photos are generally good and video is acceptable. It uses SD and SDHC cards, and the 4GB SanDisk SDHC cards come with their USB card reader. Saves battery life when downloading photos.

I second the motion for the Canon A590 IS. It's a great little camera and I use mine more often than my DSLR. Buy her a set of rechargeable Sanyo Eneloops or Rayovac Hybrids, they outlast any conventional rechargeable or alkaline battery hands down. New technology...

Thanks guys. I was leaning towards the camera as well as I can get it for around 120$ with a 2gb Sandisk card from Dell.com.

Thanks for the help.

Remember, if you go for rechargeables, the AAs and their charger are much larger than a spare Li Ion battery and the included charger for an SD series camera. There is an advantage to AAs in that you'll find them more readily available, but disposable AAs don't perform all that well in digital cameras. I use an A630 for backup because (among other things) it takes AA cells; I've had a charger for my 5D/20D batteries die on me while traveling and used my A-series for a lot of the mid-range shots to spare the other cameras' batteries until I could get a replacement.

Got it from Dell for 120ish dollars. now, will probably get the Kodak 1 hr charger and a 4pack of Eneloops. Thanks once again guys.