What's the best digital camera for beginners?

I'm buying a digital camera for the first time and would like one w/the printer dock that's:
* about $250 total
* doesn't eat up batteries so quickly
* easy to use
* lasts a long time; I've heard about these cameras dying after only a year or so.
*takes decent pictures; nothing advanced or perfect, just decent.

Thanks!

i used cnet to pick my first, and still my only, digital camera four years ago. not one problem with it in that time. i have a canon powershot s30.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/...

i suggest you get one with the rechargeable batteries and get an extra battery and a larger memory disk. Try walmart.com for photofinishing, i just got back some photos i uploaded to them and edited on their basic software and the prints are stunning.
have fun with it.

Kodak Easy Share Smart simple and fast...

basically any camera , that does the things that u want it to do , would be good for a beginner,

but I would suggest, that you get one with a miniumum of 3mega Pixel , and one that has LCD screen on the back , so you can see the picture .

a good brand is Kodak Easy Share cameras.. I have a CX7430 under 250 but it depends on the batteries you use for longevity. It lasts a long time, very easy to use, takes decent pictures you might be happy with it. Look for the next generation though of these kodak cameras as the CX7430 is a bit out of date.. but I'm happy with mine.

Try SONY dsc models. They perform great with a lot of after sales support facilities and the price is quite reasonable, apart from genuinely made in Japan. There are cheaper brands, but mostly made in China, of which the quality and craftmnaships are poor. Don't waste your money buying these crap.

Kodak easyshare.. you can check it out at walmart.com its usually less than 200$

well, i don't know an exact model of which to tell you about, but i certainly recomend sony cameras.

Get an Olympus camera. Best in terms of price, performance, quality and ease of use. I have been using it for past 2 years and used it for indoor as well as outdoor pics. Beginners will like it a lot.

with the above critical option, you will still find a lot fun and choice.

try

bizrates.com
pricegrabber.com

once you narrow the model, then target the price. many new model from casio, olympus, panasonic, kodak, & hp (kodak and hp probably give you more choice of docking) will give you long shotting time. battery life will shorten no matter what, but not within a year in general.

my experence told me that even you camera is not broken, you will not like it after 3-5 years, due to a lot of new model, price drop will introduce.

most likely you won't tell the difference between the quality from different brand. they all have their advantage.

you need to buy the camera with "stabilizer" , if you have time, go to store first to look at the "physcial" then shop online, although this is not the on sale season, but you will still find some good deal.

you may wonder why i didn't mention sony and canon, they are good, too

i have one sony before, it is still working but color is too red. now i have panasonic, super, precise and easy to use

canon is precise, but too many model too choose from, and a lot of people using it.

try out olympus or sony

but olympus is much easier to use for beginners.