Which compact camera????

I am going on a trip to Italy in february and my aunt gave me $200 for christmas to buy a digital camera. I am willing to spent as much as $350. I would be using the camera for various every day activities. Sporting events, skiing, family and partys. I was wondering which cameras you would suggest. Thanx

I'd say go ahead and spend an extra $20-50 and get a Powershot S500. It's a very nice looking camera, on top of that it's got all the features and it's 5 megapixel. It's a very small, compact camera, it's pretty dang tough too. I got mine for Christmas. If not that go with a Canon A95, it runs about the same price.

S500:

Take a look at the SD200 or SD300.

I just picked up the S1 IS for $311.00 . Very nice with SLR-like features and the 10x zoom lens. A little bigger, but actually the real small cameras worry me - afraid I will put in that shirt pocket, bend down and out slips the camera onto the floor. I have been wearing mine with the neck strap and not tto cumbersome at all. Real nice pics too!

Happy New year to you all!
I'd say, your question is most likely one that will call for many different answers. The choice is so wide actually.
I used to have a reflex and decided that my first digital camera was going to be compact and not too expensive because with it I would learn more about the reality of digital photo and characteristics that are important to me.
I did it and bought the A70. It was a perfect experience. Excellent characteristics and, as said earlier, 3.2M pixels offered very good quality pictures. I could enlarge a picture more than tenfold without seeing a decrease in quality!
The A70 being stolen, I just bought an A95 and it looks very promising. The only thing I would have liked to see improved is the LCD size but the swivel is absolutely great.
I am now reconsidering my intent of moving back to a reflex like format of camera. The quality/features are great & the volume is so convenient.
In conclusion I'd suggest you to start small & learn what is important... to you.
Enjoy!

I have an A70 and an S1 IS. If I had to choose one I'd probably choose the S1 because you can do a lot more with it. However it is a little less convenient for point and shoot because you have to manually put the lens cover back on after shooting and because that lens cover seems like it could come off and risk damage to the lens. Also it's somewhat larger. However, it also works well for point and shoot. The S1's the one to have if you don't want to carry a tripod around because of the built-in image stabilization which makes 10x telephoto handheld shots routine.