i'm going to tell you that the $399 on the Canon SD 800IS is probably the best money I've ever spent. The camera's best feature is the image stabilization, for the shaky moments of life. I bought it in January for that price, but you could definitely hunt it down for less now.
I'm def gonna agree to stick with the Canon family all three of my cameras (mi dv cam, 35 mm, & my digital) are all Canon and all excellent.
I have the PowerShot A540 w/ 6 mega pixels but, there are a few newer in the same PowerShot line that are similar and more compact. The more compact obviously the more $$$. Picture quality/clarity is great! On the negative one might have to invest in a Li-ion charger + Battery combo.
We have a canon too, and i think it might be the same version or one like it - the image stabilization is great. Canon does good stuff.
one annoying thing with some cameras is how it takes forever for it to snap a picture, or sometimes to snap one picture right after the other, it has that annoying delay. how is yours as far as that goes?
it's VERY fast, especially to turn on. the pictures during the day are also extremely fast, although they are slower in very low light. I'd say it's worth the trip to best buy to play with the camera if you have any doubts. Also, read some reviews on Amazon.
Three points of warning
1. Do not buy the camera from any online retailer that you don't know. A lot of online photo retailers have awesome prices on cameras, but will call you after you place the order and get you to buy a lot of extra accessories that you don't need. If you don't order the accessories, you won't get the camera and awesome price. My advice is stick to Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, Dell, etc. Use online coupons to bring the price down.
2. Buy a case ASAP. I've dropped mine in the case a few times, and am very glad for the $10 investment. Get a small generic Logitech case from Circuit City or Best Buy.
3. Get a MASSIVE sd card. I use dealpl.us and spoofee and deals2buy to find good deals on sd cards. I got a 2 gig for like $20. Totally worth it, b/c I have the habit of not bothering to take the pictures off the card ever and also taking movies while we're snowboarding and being stupid.
awesome, thanks for the great tips! i will try to get out to best buy soon and check it out