I'm going to bloody shoot somebody. Yesterday afternoon, my brand spankin' new Canon Powershot A510 arrived at my doorstep, heralding a new era in my photography semi-hobby; my ceremonious ascent from the dungeons of 1.3 MP to the slightly less dank dungeons of 3.2 MP. Yet here I am now, a scant 24 hours later, with a tremendously worthless and expensive brick. Mind you, in all of its compact plastic splendor, it's not going to do the brick job that well, either.
What really shocks me about this whole bit, though, is that I didn't do anything wrong!! There I was, taking pictures, when all of a sudden, it craps the bed. No death throes of any kind; no beeps, earth-shaking motor vibrations, distorted display, or magic smoke. I really am quite disappointed, given the scale and drama of my other machinery failures. All you can tell here is that the lens is still extended/locked, and it is 150% dead.
Canon tech support's going to get a call in the morning, but I'm not expecting much. Who wants to bet they ask if the batteries are new? At least I can count on Dell (who I bought it from) to be swift with the RMA process.
My trusty 1.3 MP Olympus has a new (temporary) lease on life, and my (already) low impression of Canon is reaffirmed.