Help me with buying a digital camera?

So I am going to Brazil for a year and I wanted to get a cheaper camera because I figured that something will happen to it while I am there (Stolen). I have 200 dollars and was looking for something maybe a little less than that even. ISO is nice and good pictures would be good. what do you think?

The Canon PowerShot A550 Digital Camera is a nice very inexpensive camera, If you want it I saw it at Ritz Camera, they also got some promos at http://www.prioritycodes.com/Electronics... for a discount

Whatever camera you end up getting, make sure it is thin so it can fit in your pocket. I have a really nice cannon which takes excellent pictures, but it is too bulky to carry around. I barely use it because of it's size. I would look for thin cameras under 200.

there are so many around that price and they are about the same. you will need to look at the dozen or so key features like size of viewer, motion stabalizer, low light feature, etc. etc. look it up like i ddid man! name brands don't matter so much with these kind of cameras. probably all come off the same damn production line in indonesia or china. canon is my gut feeling. i will say that. get the best canon you can buy. but the others are good. never listen to the salesman. somebody who knows just enough to be dangerous. a reall good warranty might me good. somehtig so they will just replace it. nobody can fix them.

It depends on what you want. An ultracompact, or just compact camera. In the ultracompact class, I would recommend Sony cameras such as the DSC T10, however, none of them are under 200, and alternative would be a Nikon's S series cameras such as the S9, which is really thin, but lack only optical image stabilization, and nothing else. In the compact class, I would recommend Fujiflim's F30 because it has an actual usable ISO 800, which gives you a significant advantage in low-light situations (however, it, as well is above 200). Second choice may be Canon's ho-hum SD600 (or something similar), which sells by the millions. Next I would recomment is Nikon's L series which are budget models. I would stay away from Kodak and Casio for infamous image quality. An important thing to mention is image stabilization, you will need it if you will be taking pictures in dark situations, and be careful when Nikon makes a claim for their "VR", it usually isn't optical image stabilization, and thus, it won't make a difference really. Oh yes, I almost forgot, Panasonic now does make some nice cameras, but I'm not familiar with their lineup so I can't recomment any specific models, but I will say that their image quality has improved, and their lenses have an advantage over other lenses on the market. And a last word of advice, do not pay attention to the amount of megapixels. Most cameras on the market today have sufficient resolution for the general public. And don't listen to what the previous answerer said. Brand does matter for image quality.
Here are the links in chronological order:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fu...
http://www.nikondigital.com/main.html?pa...
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contro...

If you are looking for a rechargable battery with your camera, there are not too many under $200.00. Most of the less expensive cameras are AA battery eaters.

Most cameras manufactured in the last year or two take reasonably good pictures, but the features are what you pay for-- screen size and mega pixels.

If you want a slim camera that will fit in your pocket and has gotten great reviews (and under $200 with a rechargable battery), then look at the HP 725.

Nikkon also has a series of slim cameras, but they are more expensive. They are the S series cameras. I have one, but I think the HP takes better pictures--I have used one for work quite a bit.

Anything over 5 mega pixels will take good quality pictures to print in at least 8" x 10". The lens has more to do with quality than the mega pixels. So don't get caught in the mega pixel race. You will spend less for 5 or 6 mega pixels and still get great pictures.

If you are traveling, you might want to make sure that the charger is a cord rather than a cradle. The cradle is great for at home, but I like to be able to charge with just a cord if I am doing any really traveling.

It really depends what you intend to use it for. If you don't want to be bothered by weight and bulk then get a slim camera. There are lots out there. Digital camera has a shelf life so don't get frustrated if one day your camera just stop working. Also consider the battery. Some cameras just make use of AA's while others a battery pack that you can just charge. Both have advantages and disadvantages. AA's you can just get in any grocery store but they cost a lot. Digital cameras eat up a lot of power. A battery pack is neat because you can just charge it and then you're good to go but it's frustrating for a camera to die on you because you have eaten up all the power in your battery pack. That's why you have to get a spare battery so you don't miss any shot. Another item to consider is the kind of media card that the camera uses. I've used Nikon, Canon and Kodak. To me they are all the same. Of course Nikon has a nice "ring" into it but what matters really is the picture. I've been a big fan of Nikon yes, during film days but now that digital cameras are taking over it's just so just so expensive to get the branded cameras when all that really matters is the picture. Anything with 4 megapixel and above will give you a good picture. Remember the bigger the megapixel the less pictures/shots you get. Even a 4 mega can be printed into a decent 8X10 so unless you intend to blow up your picture to 16x20 or larger then 4 mega is good.

Read the digital camera guide on ebay. Good info and reviews to help you.