Tripod under 75$ and what is a remote switch for?

[Hoomer]

I'm looking into buy a decent tripod under a 75$ price range.
Any recomendations?

And what is a remote switch good for? The only use i can think of is a self prtrait, but that can be taken witrh the timer option, right?

 

[Ross]

Remote switch is useful for long exposures (eg over 30 seconds) because otherwise you would need to hold your finger on the shutter release and then you would risk moving the camera

 

[Lufbrarunner]

Or macro shots where you want to minimise vibration etc.

 

[scraggs]

The remote switch is one of the best accesories I own, also ideal for trying to shoot meteorites (or not as in my case) and lightning because you can lock it in for continous shooting.