...my kid's A60 sensor went belly-up after just over one year.

That's the bad news.

The good news: Canon's customer service is awesome. They have an upgrade policy that got a reconditioned A70 for $150++. Not necessarily a great price, but the reconditioned model looked brand new. That one had a minor problem (shutter cover wouldn't open all the way), and customer service sent another one along with a CF card for my trouble.

Also good: uses AAs. Lots of manual options, or just set to auto.

But...I find the camera just slightly too small! If you want something for pocket/snaps, get the Optio, as someone else suggested. It's really tiny. If you want serious pix, consider a digital SLR.