I have a 3100, out of warraty, that just stopped working. I sent it to Nikon service, they wanted $121 plus $12 shipping (working from memory here, these are close if not exactly right) to repair it. You can get a factory refurb for $99 (at least one Internet seller advertises this price). I thought the camera was completely dead. It worked on day, and would not power on the next day. No drops or anything. Just stopped working. Nikon's diagnosis was "Power problem". Over the weekend I was messing with the camera and discovered the view photos button (the play button on the back) would turn the camera on and it works fine. It would appear that the power switch is bad and nothing else. I have to pop the battery door to power down. This leaves the lens out, but it retracts when I close the batt door. I contacted Nikon and asked for an estimate of what a power switch replacement would cost, as I did not want to pay for shipping two-ways until I had some idea of the ballpark cost. They told me it would be about $87. So, I'm planning to attempt to open it up myself one day. I have not tried this yet, so I don't know how hard/easy that will be. Hope that helps. On another note, when I thought my 3100 was dead, I bought a 4600 thinking it would be better. Nope. I was using it at the auto show and it took (I timed it) 20 seconds to cycle between pictures. 10 to save the image to the SD card and 10 to recharge the flash. My 3100 was not speedy, but not nearly that slow. The 4600 went right back to the store.

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