Digital camera for under $200? Kodak vs. Canon?

I'm looking for a digital camera costing no more than $200. I want good quality pictures and I want it to last a long time. The last camera I had was a Kodak Easyshare (not sure of #) but it died in less than 3 years. I really liked the quality of the Kodak, but I'm not sure I want to get another Kodak. I was thinking about getting the Canon A540. If anyone has this camera could you please tell me some of the pros and cons.If anyone has a good camera they would recommend around that price range, let me know about that too.

I have the Canon A510.. and it's been really good to me..
Takes nice photos, I dropped it a few times and it still works perfectly...

go to www.pbase.com and do a search on cameras..
look for the canon series and the model you're interested in,
and you can see sample photos.. of what other people took..

Go with the Canon, they take better pictures anyways.

Hello. If I had the money for a new digital camera, my choice would probably be for one of the Panasonic DMC series with 5mp or so along with 6x optical zoom and most importantly has optical Image Stabilization! It's a good camera with good optical zoom and stabilization. I've got a Canon A520 and like it fairly well, though it doesn't do macro shots to my liking. I'd recommend check out www.digitalcamera-hq.com for reviews on potential candidates. There's good information to get from review sites, but you've also got to check things out another way. My A520 had positive reviews, but actual real life usage outside a store is the acid test to a camera's useability. You can check for specific reviews or see which cameras scored best for the cost range you've got in mind. Good luck.

Canon cameras are always better. As for cheaper... not so much.