200-350 dollar range
There are many options to be had in this price range but IMO the company that gives the best bang for your buck is Canon.
Manual Options
for 200 dollars you can own the Canon Powershot A510.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/a510.html
This camera is great. its semi compact, 3x zoom, 3.2 megapixels and takes two AA batteries. It has manual options that let you grow as a photographer but plenty of pre set modes that allow for simple point and shoot pictures. The A510 is an upgrade from the A75
An upgrade to that camera would be the A520
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/a520.html
this camera will set you back 250 bucks and offers more megapixels and little else. The added pixels will help with cropping and picture quality. The A520 is an upgrade from the A85
For a slightly older camera with more weight and more options the A95 is your best bet.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/a95.html
It has a fold out screen, 5 megapixels and a bunch of other goodies. ITs a quality camera for around 300 bucks.
Portability
If you need something portable then the SD series from canon is a great idea. For around 280 dollars you can get a SD 200.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/sd200.html
The 200 is a 3.2 megapixel camera with less features then the A510. It is compact and can easily be lost in your pocket. It is perfect for just a point and shoot. Again, it has some manual options but no where near the A510, 520, and 95
If more megapixels is your style and you have around 350 bucks to burn, the SD300 is just right. It is jsut as tiny as the SD200 but packs more of a punch. with 4 million megapixels it allows more cropping and all that jazz. Just compare it to the A520 as if the SD 300 was the A520's little bulimic sister.
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So, if manual options is your style then the Powershot series by Canon can't let you down. If portability is more your style then the SD series is just great. If you buy the A510 and all of his "A" buddies i suggest you buy rechargable batteries and larger memory. If you buy the SD series you do not need to buy batteries becuase the SDs have a little lition ion battery but i urge you to buy more memory.
Take note I only know about Canon Cams due to my Canon Fanboydom. BUT in the 200-350 dollar pricerange Canon makes some of the best cameras for the buck. Thats it for now, hope you enjoy buying a Canon.
$500 - $999 Range
Below are links to DPReview.com's reviews. These are very in-depth and show EVERYTHING you would need to know. Most people here will either recommend Canon or Nikon. Some of these are DSLRs which basically means they can interchange lenses.
Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200
4.25/5 Stars
Nikon Coolpix 8400
4/5 Stars
Nikon CoolPix 8700
4/5 Stars
Canon EOS Digital Rebel
4.25/5 Stars
Fuji FinePix S20 Pro
4.25/5 Stars
Nikon D50
4.25/5 Stars
Nikon D70
4.5/5 Stars
Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT
4.25/5 Stars
Olympus EVOLT E-300
4.5/5 Stars
Pricing:
Use
http://www.pricegrabber.com/ with
http://www.resellerratings.com/ to find your camera once you decide.