After spending years with my old .85 megapixel (Yep, .85) Olympus digital camera that I paid $1,100 around a decade ago:

http://www.dcviews.com/_olympus/0500.htm

I went out and purchased the Canon Powershot S5 IS.  Yep, I know they will probably put out a new version over the next couple of weeks to the next couple of months, but this one has most of the features I need for a good play camera.

http://www.dcviews.com/_canon/s5.htm

Here is a blog that helped my finalize my choice after weeks of digging  up online resources:

http://usingthecanons5is.blogspot.com/

What Fun!

On my first evening with the camera, I had some fun.  One of the shots that impressed me was the moon, which I shot at the 12x zoom plus the digital 4x zoom, free handed with the lens shaking all over the place.

(Click on image for original)

That is not bad for an inexpensive point and shot! 

There will be many pictures coming along in the future when I have time to play!