Like I said here, I needed a new camera. I wanted it to be around $150 camera and with a memory card, extra battery and camera case kept me within $200. I had done all the research online and it came down to three.
1. Canon 
SD1300
Everyone recommended I get a Canon. Known for their picture quality, build and all around good name, they were at the top of my list. The camera was right in my price range too at $129 and came with a free memory card at Amazon. They had five colour options and all the cool features I could want in a camera.
2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 
This camera was rated 2010 Consumer Camera of the year from digitalcameraHQ. Panasonic has been known for their Lumix brand of cameras which have good picture quality, extensive zoom and a ton of features; they also had five colour options to choose from. It was also discounted at Amazon from $179 to $139.
3. Sony Cybershot W350 
Available at Amazon for $144, this camera was also well rated with CNET choosing it as their top point and shoot in their Holiday Gift Guide for 2010. With a cool panorama sweep and wide angle features, it is also the thinnest of the bunch and comes with five colour options.
~~~~~
In the end I chose the Panasonic Lumix DMC FH20 (violet). Even though it lacked cool features like panorama and zoom during video and came with a USB 1.0 cable (USB 2.0 is faster) and saved HD video in a larger format that the others. As a casual user I figure those won’t really be issues for me. Plus no matter how hard I tried, something about it just kept pulling me back. So in the end I went with my gut. Let’s hope I made the right decision. See upcoming posts for the unboxing and sample pics.
