Need Help with Camera Selection

Hi - I'm a SLR guy, but have a friend who needs help with picking out a camera. She's tired of losing shots because of very slow speed when pushing the shutter release and having a lengthy delay before the shot is taken. So here's her list of priorities:

1. Speed (time it takes to take the picture after pushing the shutter button)
2. Picture quality
3. Size - The smaller the better and no changeable lenses.
3. Price - $200-$300 (but can go higher if needed)

Do any of you have recommendations?

I really appreciate your help.

I'd start her out on a G11, or something to that effect. My SX110 IS takes good pictures but I didn't really shop around when I choose that one. Wish I'd gone with the G9/10/11 etc.

Well, there's not really any P&S that compares with even the most basic DSLR for low shutter lag. Boosting that performance is mostly a matter of technique (if you can manually prefocus or set exposure manually, you'll speed things up some, for instance). For size and good picture quality, with reasonable shutter lag, probably the S90, which isn't really in her preferred price range.

SX120IS...