If you're thinking about a new camera, but want something more than just a simple point-and-shoot without the bulk & difficulty of a dSLR, think about a prosumer. I bought one a while back & I love it. You can change alot of the settings and most come with a macro setting. The one I have is an Olympus, similar to the one above, but with a 15x zoom.
It uses the cheaper SD card, not the more expensive CF. It doesn't shoot in RAW, but if you're only taking pictures of your kid's bday party or family vacations or the likes, JPEG works just fine. If you use PhotoShop, you can later save it as a TIFF file to preserve the quality. It's also a lot cheaper. My prosumer only cost about $150 whereas a decent dSLR will run $600 or more, then you have the lenses. When we go on vacation or space is limited, I usually prefer this over a dSLR. It's easier to handle and weighs less. Plus, I don't have to take the time to focus and figure out the right aperature or shutter speed for every picture. That's why it's great for pictures of kids. They move around so much & this just focuses automatically.
Another main reason: most people buy a dSLR then leave it on auto. The lens is left on auto. By doing this you just turned a $600 camera into a $50 point-and-shoot.
Prosumer cameras also come with different pixels. Mine is 12mp, the one above is a 14. Most major camera makers have a prosumer camera: Olympus, Sony, Canon...and these are just the ones I've seen at my local RadioShack and Wal-Mart.
So, see I provide more than just pretty pictures ;)
