does anyone know what the easiest way to do time lapse is ive been using my Nikon coolpix s50 which has been working great but it recently died
is there any compact cameras with the time lapse feature built in?

Outside of shutter control, can't say, best to look at manufacturers specs.

Long time lapse, no.
Do you want it direct into a movie, or a sequence of stills?
My Minolta A1 would shoot a still every 30 seconds, I used that on-track so I could concentrate on driving.
My Canon G9 will shoot every 2 seconds and automatically produce a movie.

Provided your camera has a remote shutter release feature you can get something to trigger a picture every few seconds, minutes, hours and make a time lapse.