Sony Cybershot DSC-S600 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

My daughters camera seems to be experiencing the same problem as others. She bought it at 14 years old with her own $ to take on a school field trip to Washington. She took about 50 shots and then the power button would only work randomly or the lense would freeze coming out or closing. Being an electrical engineer I would guess that the motor for the cover/lens draws so much current that the battery voltage drops so low that the camera shuts off. I have tried brand new Eveready Copper tops with no luck. If I try it 4 or 5 times and can't coax it to life I can sometimes set it to view the pictures and then slide it over to the take picture mode and it will stay on. I feel bad as I talked her into a $300 Sony telling her to buy a good brand name and it would last for years. Tough lesson for a 14 year old spending babysitting money!

Pretty good all around camera for what it is. Battery usage is not bad, don't use rechargeables or you will be disappointed in the performance. You can take lots of pictures with a 1gig care before its full. Uses AA batteries which are easily obtainable almost anywhere.

Picture quality is pretty good, focuses pretty easily. Movies are pretty good. Overall an easy to use camera.

Rated a 4 because it is inexpensive.

I love this camera, it takes great pictures, it is so user friendly, and is built like a tank but is really light. I have taken exelent pictures with the open shutter mode on the camera and the color options are awesome. This camera is so easy to use, you turn it on, you press the button and you have a picture, press menu and you have all of these settings at your figertips! I dropped this camera many times, the last one i dropped it on the ground and the memory slot opened and the card popped out! (opps!) but it works just like it always does. This camera is made for everyone, the pro photographer, the middle user, and the person who is new to photography. I would recemend sony and any of it's exellent cameras to everyone.

I bought this to replace my first digital camera, an Olympus that I loved but needed less time between shots and more megapixels. I have been disappointed with this camera. My camera has stopped working again for the second time, and is now out of warranty. Like other customers the first time the lens locked up while extended and I sent it in for repair. Sony to it's credit repaired it under warranty even though I lost proof of purchase. Recently, the lens cover stopped working and I would have to turn it on and off again in order for it to work. Now it is completely dead and only displays "access" before shutting off.
Sony wants to charge me a minimum of $107 to fix it but I am done!!! I usually am thrilled with Sony products but not this time. As a point of reference my old Olympus was used and abused for years and never gave me any problems. My Panasonic Lumix has also never given me any problems. I guess I am in the market for another compact point and shoot. Any non-Sony suggestions??

I bought a DSC-S600 and babied it - Kept in in a padded hard case. The LCD internally developed a bunch of cracks, though there's not a mark on the camera. Sent it in for Warranty service. Sure enough, they claim the camera was abused, and want to bill me 70% of what I paid for it to fix.
I once worshipped Sony.