Insignia NS-DSC10

The Insignia NS-DSC10 is a low-end digital camera, exclusive to Best Buy, with 10-megapixel resolution and a 3x optical zoom lens. For the price, you'll get a decent amount of features like face detection (but no smile detection), digital image stabilization and the ability to record video. But you'll have to use AA batteries, and there's no viewfinder, although there is a 2.5-inch LCD screen. Only a few owner reviews are posted online -- people either love the Insignia NS-DSC10 or hate it. Those in the latter category aren't impressed with the image quality, and one reviewer says the photos come out looking a bit yellow. Professional reviewers generally ignore digital cameras this cheap, and you'd have to spend a bit more for the highest-rated budget camera in reviews, the Canon PowerShot A490 (Discontinued), which lacks image stabilization, but offers higher-quality images.

ConsumerReports.org rates nearly 100 digital point-and-shoot cameras, but just a few are priced below $100, and the Insignia is not included in the brand-reliability chart. We suspect First Glimpse magazine's review of the Insignia NS-DSC10 is written off specifications rather than based on hands-on testing. That said, their opinion -- that the Insignia NS-DSC10 would be OK as a first camera for a kid -- probably isn't bad. At BestBuy.com there were some sharply critical reviews, but the camera is no longer sold there and the listing has been removed. Amazon has a handful of reviews, though.