When I saw that the price of the Sony DSC-H2 fell below $300US, I ran out and got one to replace my "point and shoot" camera. It's probably the best camera for the dollar right now. You can leave it on automatic and it's easy as can be to use..  And when you want to experiment, it has all the functions available (shutter priority, aperature priority, various manual and auto flashes).. It will bracket too, and has a great macro function... But most important was the 12X optical zoom (ignore digital zoom features.. you can do that yourself on the computer when editing).

At 6mp, it's not the highest resolution, but that's PLENTY for HIGH quality prints up to (and a bit over) 8X10 inches... and PLENTY high enough for routine photography. The only problem is.. that after it fell below $300, it's sold out everywhere and I'm pretty Sure Sony already has it's higher-priced replacement ready for release.

I'm away from home right now, at a friend's house.. so I don't have access to better shots..

This photo isn't very impressive until you know that it was taken at 10X zoom from nearly a mile away and through a hotel window..




This was taken from inside a train observation car at about 5X zoom...
(pilots welcome to identify those clouds)..

Brett! They are lenticular clouds!   Amazing shot! I'm getting into weather photography, so I'm VERY jealous of that shot!

More examples here: Lenticularis

Rootbeer,

This website may be of great use: http://www.dpreview.com/

It lists all the models of different manufacturers + in depth reviews + prices...

Personally, if you want to have a great array of possibilities, I'd look into the Panasonic FZ7 or 8 ( I own the FZ5), the Fujifim or the Sony bridgecamera's. They can be used as point and shoot camera's, but they also have a lot of dSLR-like functions, which enable you to control a lot of things. Only, they don't cost as much as the reflex camera's and you don't have to buy seperate lenses... I must say I've learned a lot with my camera ( and still do), yet some day I want to switch over to the big boys...

Cheers,

Omag

Don't look into getting a compact digi without first considering the Fujifilm Finepix S5600. My current camera, which so far has served me well!

Find a few stats and figures here. Don't forget to look for reviews on the net, too (for some reason, DPReview doesn't have any for the S5600).

A few example images I've taken (I've tried to include a range of conditions):

Cessna 152

Harrier

Jet Truck

Jet Truck (night)

Typhoon

One thing I must say about digital photography - be prepared to edit/process your photos if you want them to look their best. That doesn't mean manipulating the image, making them into something they're not, but  cropping, adjusting colour levels/brightness and contrast, etc. All too often you see people posting photos straight from the camera, and although it may seem the 'right' thing to do, you won't get the results you desire (unless your standards are set pretty low ) and you won't be getting the most out of your camera.

Hope this helps.

My brother used to say, "The secret to taking great pictures, is to shoot lots of film".

With a digital camera, that's do-able...  'cause the financial burden of PROCESSING that film has lifted. After a few hundred shots, a digital camera starts paying for itself 

My first digital camera was a Sony something-or-other.. Cameras were rarely rated in mega-pixels back then (circa  1997). The unique feature (at the time) was that this "thing" stored pictures on 3.5" floppies. I'm gonna guess that the photos were in the 0.5 mega-pixel range.. barely qualifying this camera as an "image capturer". There was no chance that it would replace my regular cameras (Cannon AE1 and Minolta X-370), but it was just as expensive.. in the $700 range.

I have a digital Cannon Rebel and I can tell you, that unless I'm toting a tripod and take my time to calculate exposures and carefully compose shots.. this Sony DSC-H1 (for about 1/3 the price) does as good a job (sometimes better) than the Rebel. Obviously... the old 35mm SLRs are collecting dust.

Very cool.

I'm on my third Olympus digital, but wish I was on my fourth.....they(Olympus) have two new models coming out soon and one of them should have my name on it. To answer your question though, I have had nothing in the area of probs with any of the three so far, and Wendy is on her second one.....only the last for each of us are the same model.

You can get pretty good reviews at Steve's Digicams if you are interested in reading up on any camera which has been on the market and popular for a few months. Along with DPReview and Steve's to help make up my mind on some choices I decide upon in photography purchases.

In fairness though, there are so many choices to make in digital cameras, as all manufacturers are striving to take a piece of the exploding market so don't stop at just one name or one price....make your buy, with a blend of features, price and then name, in that order if you really want to be satisfied in the long run.....
Don't forget too, that you need to factor in cost and availability of power types and storage types.

Remember, the sour taste of disappointment, lingers long after the sweetness of low price fades from memory.......