First time digital camera?

can any one give me a simple to use camera with good quality. under $150?

Fuji A500, but is has expensive memory is only 5 MP and has silent video, but a great lens and excellent pixels.

The Kodak 653 at $130, big screen, near TV quality Video with sound

The Kodak 701 with charger dock at $160 (Wal Mart) 7 MP, big screen, recharable battery pack, power dock, sound videos. Probably a best by for the buck. You're getting a $40 charging stand and battery for free (the 743 is the same price without this stuff).

The Nikon L4 low on pixels but it's a Nikon. The Nikon L5 I think, bigger screen about $160

Sony S500 at $150, good camera, a bit over priced, expensive memory compared to Kodak and Nikon.

The CANON mentioned above IS a good camera IF you can find iat at that price. It's discontinued (to be frank ALL of them are discontinued -- new stuff comes out in March and April, but old stuff is getting cheaper).

There's not much more than that

Stay away from Vivitar, HP, Sanyo, Samsung and Aiptek

They have price and features in their favor but the average Joe don't like them in quality or speed

go to your local pawn shop

they will have lots of good cameras at a very low price

I got mine for $120....... it was a $450 camera

If you are just taking snapshots, any 4Mp or better small Bodied(near pocket sized) camera with a 3x OPTICAL zoom lens will do. If you plan to shoot in bad weather sometimes, or lots of outdoor shots at changing temps spend a little more and find an Olympus Stylus Digital 400, 500, or 600 camera(bought my 600 at a camera shop on close out for $239).

I think the camera in your price range is the Canon Powershot A530. It has been on sale at numberous big box stores below $130. That's a good price on a good camera. The A530 was selling for $180 not too long ago. I've recommended this camera within my own family, so I'll be living with the results of this recommendation right along with you. You can use the rest of your budget to buy a decent memory card.The Canon Powershot A540 is the big brother to this excellent camera and it has reviewed quite well, also. I have seen it selling for $170 this season in all the usual places.

Go here and read an extensive review:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...

Skip to this page if you just want the final word:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...

Check the sample images, too.

This will blow your mind:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/150-vs-5...

I believe Kodak has a camera for $100.. pretty nice too..

Before you buy note whether the camera has an eye level finder - Many people prefer to compose their pictures with the view screen, but they can be hard to view in bright sunlight, or if you are farsighted. The trend has been to eliminated the eye level finder on small cameras but some of the Canon cameras still have them and Canon makes good digital cameras.