Nikon D3100 LED Screen for taking pictures?

Can you use the LED screen on the Nikon D3100 as a view finder (to take pictures) instead of just the eye hole?

This is my first MAJOR camera, but if you HAVE to use the eye hole as the only was of taking the picture, I may have to consider Canon.

First, let's get the terms out of the way -- the little eye hole you look through when composing your photos is called a "viewfinder." The camera feature that allows you to compose your photos with the LCD is called "live view." And by major camera, I think you mean "dSLR."

Your D3100 does indeed have live view. How to enable it should be in the user manual. Download the PDF version from Nikon's site if you misplaced yours.

But tossing this all out the window, using live view has very few advantages over using the viewfinder. The viewfinder is a "what you see is what you get" kind of deal and the LCD sometimes has delay which is a hassle for some types of shooting. It's handy for some things but there's no reason why you should switch camera systems just for live view.

I would ask why on earth would you send that kind of money on a very fine camera only to use it like every other every day "snapper" shoots with a point and shoot? Why? This is a very fine camera and it's meant for serious photography. Leave the "snapping" to the snappers and their pocket toys. If you learn to properly operate this camera you can out shoot and out gun them every time.

Now that you have a wonderful camera learn how to use it.