if any of you want to get even a little serious about taking pics Id highly recomend a dSLR. We've got the cannon XT and it is awesome. It's easy enough to just point and shoot (for me) or complex enough for my wife to take all her artsy pics.
It's nice to be able to upgrade parts of the camera when you want to rather than throw the whole thing away when you need something better. my $0.02