Keith, Consumer Reports just came out with their ratings on new cameras (March issue). Their pick in the Compact catagory is the Canon PowerShot A590 IS. It is an 8 meg camera with a street price of $140. Weighs in at 8 ounces and has a 4x optical zoom. Battery life is estimated at 450 pictures, which is excellent. The image stabilization is worth every penny--especially with a small camera.
The highest rated subcompact camera is the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS ELPH. It too is 8 meg and street price is $180. Has a 3x optical zoom and weighs 5 ounces. The image stabilization feature is a near necessity for subcompacts. Battery life estimated to be 240 shots.
Good luck!
