<human>: Can you condense the text into a few key points?

Hi guys! I tried asking on [/r/Warhammer] to no avail. Maybe you guys have some knowledge?

First a little background:

I was planning on dusting off an old digital camera while visiting my parents, a [Fujifilm Finepix S5000] from ~2003. It wasn't being used any more having been replaced with something much more modern but would be fine for my purposes. Unfortunately it turns out that its camera functionality is totally broken (to the point where switching from viewing photos to taking them turns off the camera or crashes its software). 

Whilst rummaging around I also found a [Nikon Coolpix 5700] After some electronics voodoo (the charger is missing) I got it to turn on. Its camera system is also broken, it seems. It turns on but just shows black (yes, the lens cap was off!) although once again the album aspect seems fine.

I still want to get a camera to photograph miniatures (primarily) but don't really know where to start. Money is tight and so a DSLR is probably out of the question but regular point and shoot consumer cameras have disappointed me in the past. What would you recommend?

Side note: I'm in the UK.
<bot>: Was going to use an old (5 - 6 mp) prosumer-level camera for pics of minis but both broken. Need tips for alternatives.