I'm very much an amauter with limited resources so my veiwpoint will be different than John's.
I've never had a camera fall off any of my ultra budget tripods - but they're not stable enough for any sort of challenging situation. (Wind, long lens, macro, long exposures...)
For general evening photography out & about they seem to work fine.
My second hand Manfrotto Triaut is rock steady, very easy to adjust (all the legs can be adjusted from the top) and has good height range (~2 foot? to over 8 foot without the head, or extending the column). However it weighs a ton, and even second hand cost nearly 10x the seven day shop one new.
It's great for studio work & digiscoping, but if I need to be portable forget it!
I've heard it said of tripods "sturdy, cheap, light - pick any two"
I suspect easy to use might be added to list, with out increasing the number of options you can pick
I think you'd have to see if you can find one of the increasingly rare photography shops and look at the range they have, as different people find different catches etc preferable. Have a good think about the other uses you might have for it before you commit as well -
How high/low do you need it to go?
How much weight might you put on it?
Do you prefer twist lock, or lever catches?
How hard will you be on it (frequent/professional use of occational/light)?
Do you want the ease of a ball head or the precision of a pan & tilt...?
All effect the right choice for you.