headin to College...

[neubs]

hello all,
I'm a soon-to-be college freshman at the University of Washington. with some of my graduation, i thought that buying a digital camera would be a nice luxury. I've kinda been lookin around, researching here and there...and i am pretty sure i want a compact camera--i am willing to sacrfice some picture quality for portability and on-the-spot usage. the 3.2MP to 4.xx MP range seems to suffice. I've found the Pentax Optio S4/S40/S4i set to be attractive, but i have heard that the picture quality is poor. also, the Canon Exilim Z4U/Z40 is nice. I also, however, like the Nikon Coolpix 3200/4300 cameras. out of these cameras, which yields the highest quality-to-size? as a kid who wants to point-and-shoot, is the quality of the Optios going to be good enough? Any help would be awesome. thanks everyone.
-Eric

[E.T.]

Go U-dub!

You mentioned "point'n shoot feature, & dsire for "compact" camera.
Check out a Nikon Coolpix 3700 Digital Camera:
Point and Shoot - 3.2 Megapixels - Zoom: 4 X Digital , 3 X Optical - SD/MMC Card 16 MB -Screen: 1.5 in - Focus: Automatic, Manual - Built In Flash [priced from $200-$250].

Dont know about quality of the Optio S . Seems Penatax has pushed the limits for compacts with this one [ 3" x 2"].

IMO, [with exception to lense capacity], for general use, you will be happy with almost any of the major brand 2. mp cameras for use & print quality.

[Sebastian]

My suggestion would be the Canon A60. Small, good image quality, and 150 bucks or less, leaving money for the most important parts, CF cards and batteries.

I too have been disappointed in what I saw from the Pentax. Check out the Minolta X20.

[Michael Fanelli]

I too have been disappointed in what I saw from the Pentax. Check out the Minolta X20.

I owned a Pentax Optio 330 that was excellent. Best of all, it had a before-the-shot histogram. I can't vouch for later models of the Optio series.

[neubs]

hey thanks for the help guys...that coolpix 3700 looks pretty attractive...from the general vibe, i guess the super compacts (optio, exilim) aren't worth it? anyway, i know i'm just a little bit closer to making an investment (just a little stingy with my grad money ). thanks again.
-Eric