My folks, who are pretty technically savvy, are looking for a digital camera. They're able to operate PC's and printers and the like, but may not be the type who'd do a lot of tweaking to camera settings, or necessarily be the type to explore a lot of options or have a lot of patience with a camera that took a long time to boot or to focus.

I have a HP Photosmart 850 that I've let them use, whose autofocus, boot time and appetite for AA batteries has served mostly to aggrivate them.

What I would be looking for is a point-and-shoot digital camera with the following features:

• More than a 3x zoom[/*]
• More than 4 megapixels[/*]
• Can use rechargeable batteries or comes with its own charger[/*]
• USB compatible that doesn't require a lot of specialized software to pull the photos off the camera (currently use ACDSee). Also, since they're on dialup, they need to use software they are familiar with to resize images to send.
  [/*]
• Can use at least a 1GB media card (does not matter which, as long as they're affordable)[/*]
• Movie capability would be nice, but it's not a dealbreaker[/*]
• Quick boot up and fast auto focus[/*]
• Good flash, looking for a camera that'd be a good indoor & outdoor camera - something capable of ISO 100 - 800 equivalent or thereabouts[/*]
• Price in the range of $150 - $250.[/*]

I'm sure there are more things that'd come to mind too.

I don't know if the price range I am looking in would preclude some of the options I want, either.

I would appreciate any recommendations for a camera. They should be able to operate most anything, but I guess I am looking for a camera that doesn't overcomplicate itself.

Any help appreciated.

I purchased a Kodak C-533 this past summer for my parents and they really like it. Since that time the C-633 and C-643 have been introduced with even more features.

MT