Ted and I decided on a Christmas gift to each other this year - a new digital camera. We researched and decided on the Nikon Coolpix 4500, and bought it from a store on e-bay (brand new). We just received it last night and it doesn't work! We have the worst luck with digital cameras EVER!

We used to have a Canon PowerShot A5 3-4 years ago but it was a total lemon. We spent the whole first year shipping it back and forth to the warranty center for repairs, and then the warranty ran out and it wasn't fixed yet, so it was useless. Since then we've been camera-less, or using our small low-quality portable webcam (the Intel Pocket Digital PC Camera).

Now we finally throught we were getting a good one. We took it out of the box, recharged the battery until fully charged, and followed all the instructions to set it up. However, on first power-up (and every start-up since) it makes this loud whirring clicking sound, then says "System Error" and shuts itself down. I called Nikon Tech Support and they said, "Yeah, that's bad, your dealer should let you exchange it". I can't believe we got another lemon camera!

Now it remains to be seen if our e-bay seller can be trusted to do the exchange. He has seemed extremely trustworthy so far and he is an e-bay store (not just some guy selling his own camera). So I really hope it works out. If we have lost another pile of money on a lemon... grrr... I'm starting to wonder if digital cameras are just too fragile, poorly designed, or something.