Konica Minolta DiMAGE 5 Digital Camera

Although the body is identical to the (more expensive) Dimage 7 the Dimage 5 has one or two crucial differences. A smaller 3 megapixel sensor is the most obvious. This, in turn, increases the length of the 7x optical zoom at the expense of the wide angle measurement which is now 35mm (up from 28mm on the D7).
The body is alloy with plastic add-ons. It generally feels fairly robust but the hinged flap which covers the compact flash card is begging to be broken off.
A pop up flash is good for fill-in and general snapshots but can be too "hot" at closer range -- dial it back in the menu.
The D5 uses an electronic viewfinder/panel -- infra red sensors switch between the two screens or you can lock the display using a small switch.
There's a useful black-and-white top plate LCD that gives full status information and the viewfinder info is comprehensive. Focus performance is good for a seven year old camera but goes to pot in bad light (no focus assist light here I'm afraid).
Both the D5 and the D7 were panned for their battery appetite when new but technology has ameliorated this problem now. Buy a decent set of 2100 mAh cells and you'll be good to go all day. Because the D5 uses conventional AA batteries you'll never worry about finding a stockist when you're in a bind.
Image quality is good but every pic must be processed with the Minolta Image Viewer because the D5 (and D7) shoot in a unique colour space. This means unprocessed pics look a bit flat when you see them on a PC screen. Run them through the viewer and the colours saturate nicely.
The lens uses a conventional manual zoom and is all the better for it.
If you fancy learning the basics of digital photography before moving onto an SLR then the D5 would make an excellent first step.