Speak now or no telling me later how much my camera sucks.

If you know anything about me, you know I'm not big on gadgets. I kept the same cell phone for four years. Now I have the cheapest one Verizon sells and I pay $20 a month for something like 50 weekday minutes per month. My computer is a refurbished Compaq from when I worked at Compaq, so it's about 4 years old, not including its time as a new computer back in '98 or whenever. I don't believe in handheld organizers because I have nothing to organize and most people who have them don't either.

I was one of the last people on the planet to get a digital camera, and it's been the only gadget-y thing in my life that I've really enjoyed. But its battery-draining screen and its inability to take quick photos has made me see that it's time for something new. And though I be buried in debt with no end in sight, I'm going to use my tax refund for a new camera. I could make a decent payment on a credit card or whatever, but that's BORING.

So I've read through some back issues of Wired, I've looked online, and here is what I have come up with:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6970389&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat31100050033&id=1099386329724

This actually isn't mentioned anywhere in Wired. The one they have most recently liked that is in my price range was a Casio camera. Yes, I know, Casio? Given how cheap it is and how Wired seemed to really love it, I went in search of it, but no one is selling them other than the Casio website. It's listed on Amazon and Best Buy, but unavailable for some reason. Anyway, using the guidelines from the Wired article, Brian and I went to Best Buy and looked at the selection. This Olympus looked like the best choice for my price range. The Wired article panned the little Canon PowerShots and I'd feel uncomfortable with something that small anyway.

So tell me what you think, camera geeks.