Sony DSC W170
I've had the Sony DSC W100 camera for two years now and it has served me well. I've taken over 4600 pictures with it! Think about how much that would have cost in the old days of film and developing. There are already kids growing up who have no memory of that. I'm old.
Anyway, the W100 started to develop a black spot in the upper left of the image. It showed up sporadically, but I'm starting to notice it more as I photograph landscapes. When that spot is over the blue sky it's pretty apparent. I have been editing it out of most photos that appear on the site, but here's one that made it through. I've never been able to see the spot on anything but a bright blue sky. It's not terrible, but it bugs me. Couple that with the fact that the selector wheel to choose the photo mode has gotten a bit touchy and the fact that I have a LOT of Sony bucks built up on my credit card and it was time to buy a new camera. Also, I think you just witnessed a run-on sentence.
My selection was limited to the Sony brand so the decision was pretty simple. I ended up choosing the W170. It's 10 megapixels with a 5x optical zoom and retails for $299. The 13.6 megapixel W300 was really tempting, but I decided it wasn't worth the extra cost and lower zoom. I also looked at the "high zoom" line of pseudo-SLRs, but I didn't want the extra bulk.
Have I mentioned that I love my Sony credit card? In the last four years, I've gotten the following free electronics: DCR-HC40 camcorder, DSC-W100 camera, MDR-NC50 noise canceling headphones, and now this DSC-W170 camera. I suppose I should go for a card that gives me miles or straight cash back, but this has been a nice way to keep my gadgets up to date.
The camera should arrive this week and that means I'm left with a pretty nice camera to get rid of. The W100 is 8.1 megapixels and I have been very happy with it. The battery still lasts for well over 500 shots on a single charge. You've already seen the minor defect in it and maybe you can even figure out how to fix it. I'm giving this away "as-is" with no cables or manuals. The only accessory you get is the charger. You'll need to buy a Sony memory stick in order to use it plus a reader for the memory stick. I'll also ask that you pay for shipping. Does anybody want it? I bet that if you use the camera mostly indoors, you'll never notice the spot. Like I said, I've only seen it when I take a photograph of a blue sky or a white wall. If you want it, shoot me a note. If I get more than one email, I'll come up with a contest.