Is There A Fault With My Nikon D3100?

I've just bought a 2nd hand Nikon D3100 18-55mm digital camera. However, when I take a shot, insert the 512Mb Integral SD card into my PC, the images blur/pixelate when I zoom in, no matter what programme I employ.
Is there a setting I'm missing here, or does the lens, and or camera have a fault?

Honestly it doesn't sound like a fault, just a touch of inexperience - make sure the image quality is set to 'FINE' and the image size is set to 'L' in the cameras menu system - your iso should ideally be set to 100 or 200 of course this depends on what you are photographing.

You have to be realistic - experience helps - when stretching images (zooming in) the quality of the image drops/pixelates… Any slight focussing issues (softness) is also highlighted more - this is all normal and to be expected with photography (they don't show these problems on TV)… The best practice is to shoot or 'capture' as best possible the image that you want - and then fine tune it with manipulation or editing software - it's not a good idea to try and use editing software as an alternative to the correct lens for the 'required result'.

Set the camera to maximum resolution. The manual will tell you how. If that ancient 512 SD card came with the camera I would guess the previous owner lowered the resolution to be able to fit more pics on it. You need to get a 4 to 8 GB SDHC class 10 card for your camera.

If the image is sharp on the camera viewfinder, then you know the camera is working correctly.
The fact that it's blurred on the computer might indicate a faulty card. You could try a different card (in any case, you will need something bigger than a 512 Mb card)

The image quality needs to be set higher, "fine" is the highest, you will find this in the settings menu.

It also might be that your trying to use "manual" mode without knowing how to use it. If your using manual mode, make sure your shutter speed is set above 1/60, this ensures you get sharper images.
Same if your using shutter priority, make sure its above 1/60, the higher the better. But keep in mind you might want to compensate with ISO or aperture to get good light in the image.

Or you might have your lens set to manual focus, twist the front of the lens, and focus. Or just use single autofocus its faster and more accurate.

If your not familiar with these read your manual. If you don't have one:

http://www.nikonusa.com/...oprint.pdf

Read it well, and make sure you go over everything.

I suggest you set your "dial" to "P" or "AUTO", and see if there's a difference in sharpness.

-good luck, don't worry the camera is not faulty.

Make sure you set the photo quality in the camera to LARGE/FINE, or RAW. That should fix it.