Richard, take Gordon's advice. It is worth spending a bit of money on a tripod. I wouldn't get a £20 tripod. A quick release plate is a very good feature.
As for:
"plus it takes some pretty sweet photos..my friend has one.."
It's your friend that takes the sweet photos, not the camera. You can give the best camera in the world to a bad photographer, and find it very capable of taking bad photos. Get a camera that you are comfortable using, and get out there and use it. there's no substitute for experience, regardless of which model you choose.
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