Brand Reliability

[GlitchCog]

I'm in the market for a new digital camera. My Olympus Camedia D-560 Zoom broke after just three years of moderate and careful use. I'm just a casual photographer who takes pictures on vacation and special occasions, but I probably take more photographs than the average person.

Anyhow, I'm really interested in a well-built digital camera for casual use. My now broken camera always felt plastic and operated as if it were engineered to fail after a while. I'd like a more reliable one, but I'm not sure which brands if any offer non-professional level cameras that will last.

I guess I want something between 3 and 5 megapixels, with average optical zoom and about the size of my old camera. I'd like to spend about $200 to $300, but if I were certain the camera could last me 6-7 years, I'd be happy to spend $300 to $450. Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated.

Edit:
Sorry. This should probably be in the Digital Camera Forum.

[another view]

Sorry. This should probably be in the Digital Camera Forum.

Not a problem! Olympus generally has a pretty good reputation - on par with Canon and Nikon here at least in my experience. Within any manufacturer's range, there will be big differences between their least expensive and top of the line. If you were otherwise happy with the camera (like how it worked, image quality, etc) then you might look at other cameras that they offer.

[SW2CAM]

I have had in digital

Oly
Panasonic
KODAK
CANON
SONY
NIKON

The only brand that I've had break downs with have been CANON.