I would take a look at the Canon SD10. I love the form factor and appearence of these. You can get them in about 5 different colors. In addition, I have a Canon G series ( a larger camera) and I really like the features, interface and image quality. It looks like a great go-anywhere camera from a vendor with a lot of camera manufacturing experience.

Some great info here, thanks..... I will visit Comp USA on Monday and look at some of these live...

Gaucho100k, have fun. But I would go to a camera store not a computer store. Pick the one you want and then order from B&H, Adorama, Dell, J&R or another long established brick and mortar store that also sells on the web.

I rather suprised that no one has mentioned the Sony DSC-T1. 5 mega pixels and about the smallest form factor you can find. Big on the wow factor.

Sony DCS-T1

I'll add another vote for the Canon S410. I bought the Canon S100 a few years ago and upgraded to the S400 a while back. I'm very happy with it too.

Yes it is - I was blown away first time I saw it - however it's just not as practical overall - between the much more expensive memory, need for the docking station, and (due to the size) weak flash with poor red-eye results it's more wow than anything else - but for looks alone it is a big WOW

I own a Minolta XT Dimage 3.2 Megapixels and I rate it a

It is too small if you have large hands and it is too light. This is a problem if you push the button with more than slight force.

I would recommend the Canon.

The sony gives nice pikkies but it needs proprietary storage media. Not a good idea.

I agree. My friends (and myself) who have Canon digital cameras have multiple memory cards because Canon uses CF and they are cheaply available. Today you can get a 1GB CF for ~$110 after rebate. In contrast those friends who own Sonys have puny 64 MB Memory Sticks (or maybe 128MB if they want to splurge ) which cost 3-4x more per GB. What kind of business model does Sony think it is following? Can you spell Betamax?

Yea, I forgot to point that out. Some of the Sonys have good glass in them (Zeiss) but I wont get a proprietary memory camera. It really takes away your flexibility. Being able to use CF cards or microdrives is a big advantage of Canon. They arent alone in that but it is a very nice feature given the overall design and build quality of the cameras.

I tried out the Sont T1 and I fell in love with the looks. I agree that memory and accessories are expensive, but the specs are excellent and the design is just too good. The only thing that worries me are the comments on the red eye thing. Dont these things come with software that takes care of this...?

There are three ways to take care of red-eye. Best is using an off-angle or reflected flash (or both). Thats why you see pros with a detachable flash that they hold away from the camera or bounce off the ceiling. You wont see this on a small digital camera, people dont want the detachable hassle and it takes vastly more energy (ie battery drain) to do an indirect or bounce flash. Next best is a good preflash, this fires a short flash that makes the subjects eyes contract from the light so that when the real flash and exposure hits them the eyes arent as wide open and not as much light escapes from inside their eye (the reflection of the flash) for the exposure. If done correctly by the camera this can work well Lastly, you can remove the red with software but it doesnt leave the eyes, just no red. I havent used the Sony but if it has redeye problems it is probably either because the preflash isnt there or doesnt work well or the position of the lens and the flash are such that the angle to a subject is bad in terms of reflecting the light from the subjects eyes.

If you're a casual photographer like me, you don't want to resort to software to remove red eyes because you won't. It's just too much of a hassle. The pre-flash mechanism is your best bet.