Solicitation (updated)

Photo buffs, lend me your eyes.

I'm going to be upgrading my digital camera within the next couple of weeks, and I'm looking for suggestions as to what to check out. Basically, here's what I'm thinking:

- Looking between the $300-$400 range
- A step up from compact point-and-shoot, but nowhere near SLR territory
- Relatively user-friendly for someone still learning the ropes
- Crisp, quality shots possible in a variety of settings (from still shots to concert photography)

Suggestions? At the moment, I'm researching the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2, Kodak EasyShare 2710 and Canon PowerShot S3 1S -- and actively seeking input from those familiar with any/all of those cameras or others in that genre I should check out.

(***UPDATED, thus rendering the snippet immediately below said update absolutely moot, but hey: Research is fun. Am now lusting after the S3 1S. Lusting. A very dirty, hot-damn-I-can-play-with-color-replacement, ooh talk to me about optical image stabilization, get that into my hands NOW kind of lust.***)

A recap of yesterday's trip to the New Hampshire Parallelogram will come tomorrow (I hope - if not, Tuesday)...I'd give it a shot tonight, but considering the headachey drive back to my apartment and the sheepish admission to my visiting mother that the pumpkin ale was flowing quite liberally at Milly's last night (read: "Yeah, Mom, I'm a little hungover")...might be best to save it until I can tackle the roundup appropriately.