For a point and shoot:
Casio Exlim
http://exilim.casio.com/
I paid about $275 for mine. I bought a no questions asked extended warranty for $50 for 3 years and I love it.
Its my 3rd one, I forgot I put my 1st one in my back pocket and sat on it, the 2nd one, my dad dropped when taking a picture of my family in the mountains and it bounced around in some rocks. It wored for 2 more weeks then died.
Hence my warranty now.
Great little pocket camera that takes awesome pics in any light and pretty impressive MPeg4 video as well.
You cannot beat a digi SLR for quality shots. We have a Nikon D50 and love it!!