difficulty choosing between elph models

I'm trying to choose a relatively small easy to use camera - a good menu with some manual options would be nice, but to be honest I rarely use them, so more important is the quality of the automatic snaps. I have looked at the sd870, 950 and the new 890 and like the wide angle aspect of the 870, the zoom of the new 890 although it seems to have received really mixed reviews so far, and overall the 950 looks good as well. I am sending a friend who is visiting New York to buy a camera for me, and am not close to a camera shop where I am, so would appreciate some advice on which camera to go for as I won't get to check them out myself.
Thanks for your help!

Depends on what you like to photograph (or think you'll use it for, if you're new to this). If I personally were to have only one camera (it'll never happen!), I'd have to go for the SD870, because there's no substitute for a wide-angle lens. It takes in about 20% more of the scene than the others will at the wide end. The trade-off is that it doesn't do as well when you need to photograph something small and far away.

Agreed. I have the 870 and also the S5. I find that I use the S5 less and less. The 870 is small, takes great pictures and the wide angle is the best thing for me since sliced bread