anon S1 IS that has developed the E:16 error

[musashikhb]

Good Morning,
I have an S1 IS that has developed the E:16 error. Initially, this camera worked very well, and I took about two hundred photos total during the 18 months that it functioned. I treated it as if made of crystal; it was never dropped, bumped, nudged or mishandled in any way, and was kept in a drawer when not in use. After about 18 months of light use, the camera totally failed.
After taking some photos, I plugged in and uploaded them to my PC, then turned the camera back on in the record mode. The lens failed to extend, and the display remained dark except for an error message in the lower left corner of the display: "E:16", and the camera powered off after 3 seconds.
After repeated attempts to restart with no change in symptoms, I searched the Web for any reports of similar problems. I found numerous reports of lens failures, almost all with an associated "E:18" message, but nearly none with the e:16 code.
I e-mailed Canon tech support, and received a suggestion to remove, wait for 20 minutes, then reinstall the batteries. I confirmed that they were fully charged, and restarted the camera. The lens extended, but the LCD display is sometimes shot through with horizontal lines resembling static, which are recorded in photos taken afterwards (example attached.). The camera now starts up randomly, and the lines come and go randomly. The only offer Canon has made after this was to offer an "upgrade" to a refurbished S2 IS for $299. That's about the price of a new one online! I have decided not to buy any Canon digital camera again. I would, however, like to try to get this one running with a degree of reliability.