Fuji F300EXR

New camera

This is a pretty powerful little thing. They've somehow managed to get a 15x zoom in a pocketable body, making it very easy to transport. It's also got full manual control, and a couple of other neat little things (like that new sweep panorama stuff). It is a bit on the heavier side, the pop-up flash never goes down while the camera's on, and the user-interface leaves a lot to be desired, but it's still pretty damn impressive for a compact.

Not terribly expensive either, only $200 from B&H. Or $350 from my local camera shop
Thankfully I happened to notice a refurbished one for only $220, which probably is cheaper than it would be to get it from B&H with shipping and everything.

This camera also defies the laws of photography. At 10x zoom, max aperture is 6.2, at 15x, it's 5.3