Christmas gift help -- camera & ipods

[caseysmom]

Kim, we got my daughter an ipod mini for her birthday about a month ago from sam's club. It was only 195 and she loves it. She got a bright pink skin and a light pink case for it from friends. I swear by sams club and costco, costco has a better return policy than sams if you have problems.

[caseysmom]

Here is a link to what costco has to offer:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...Path=79*20967*

[catnapper]

Waahhh... no fair! Hubby and I cheked out Sams yesterday and all my Sams Club had was the ipod shuffle!

Seriously now, I was wondering what the difference was between an ipod and anything else, but was afraid to voice my opinion to my daughter for fear she would think we're trying to make her ONLY want for Christmas a cheaper one. Thats not it at all... I just want best value for my money, and if I can get more quality for less money from another product, then I'd like to do it. But she ONLY wants a BLUE ipod. God forbid I get the white one and a blue skin to go with it. I KNOW she'll be heartbroken that she didn't get the one and only thing she specifically asked for... she went so far as to cut it out of the sales ads and tape it to my computer so I wouldn't confuse it with any other. You have to know this kid - she does NOT do things like this unless its really important to her. 99% of the time you can switch things out with her and she'd go with the flow.

As for cameras, thats what I was saying to hubby last nght - either a Nikon or Cannon. He saw a sales ad for Kodak, and I'd hear so many bad things about how easy they are to break, so I said no to anything but a Canon or Nikon... unless somebody has any other brand out there they like. I also need to know WHICH camera wuld be best for her needs.

[Jessika]

JUST for every day snapshots, she really won't need anything higher than a 3 or 4MP since she isn't doing anything photography-wise, correct? Just general snapshots of friends and such?? And a Canon would be perfect, especially ones with a "sports" mode so she can capture swimming pictures.

And its sad she doesn't want anything other than an iPod, really. Creative Zens are much higher quality, not necessarily CHEAPER but for the same price you get more memory in some models.