Hi,
In general, I am a fan of Canon cameras, followed by Nikon. I am a believer in the idea that a digital camera should be a camera first, a piece of electronics second -- thus I prefer traditional camera makers over electronics firms who have leaped into that market.
As far as Canon lineup goes, the two product lines you would be intested in (from the sound of it) are the A and SD series. Each of those has a number of currently offered models. A-series models of comparable specs (mainly resolution) are generally slightly less expensive and physically bigger than the SD-series pocket-size models.
The smaller size may mean fewer features and reduced performance (mainly in the areas of geometric distortion of the lens and noise in low light conditions) in some cases, but for the most part, these tradeoffs are very small and for someone wanting a camera they can conveniently carry everywhere they go, I think the Canon SD-series products are awesome.
You can find some digital camera reviews at these sites:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
Hope this helps.
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