Lendaddy, I just bought two of the Canon A630's from this place.
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=CNPSA630 I went with the free shipping and even though they said the "free" shipping could take 7-10 days, I got the cameras in three days.
I paid $191.00 each but now they are down to $188.00 each.
Everyone has their favorite brands and reasoning, but here is mine.
I had an older Canon A70 and liked it alot, and my daughters both have a "A" series. The newer A series use generic SD media cards which are common and cheap compared to the exclusive Sony media. These "A" series Canons use AA batteries which is one of the biggest reasons I bought my first one. I use common rechargable NiMH batteries (some of which now last about 4 times longer than Alkaline regular batteries) in mine, but if I am on a trip and forget to bring fresh charged batteries, I can always go to any store and simply buy AA alkalines. These all come with a cable to hook to any TV to view pics and videos directly on the big screen which is nice when showing relatives pictures.
The video on these is getting pretty good (I am sure other brands are improving also) and the photo quality is pretty good also.
I am guessing that most digital cameras are all capable nowadays of taking decent pics for the average consumer, but I just like the Canons for the above reasons. I will have to check out if there is a delay that you are concerned about and get back to you.