Sony Cybershot DSC-T200

[BananaJaK]

Hey guys, I'm in the market for a new P&S digital camera and was eyeing the Sony DSC-T200. I'm pretty clueless about cameras and this will be my first one. Just wanted to get some opinions from the camera gurus here.

I'm looking for a 7-10 mp camera with a good optical zoom (5x ) that's pretty much all I know that I'm looking for..what else is important in picking a good camera?

I know Canons seem to be the brand of choice around here, what are some comparable Canons to this one? What makes them better? What are some other comparable models in this price range (4-500) from other manufacturers?

The Sony is pretty new so there isn't too much on it, but from the reviews I have read, they all seem quite favorable. The huge touchscreen LCD is really cool and it has some neat features (smile shutter, touch focus etc.)

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082101sonyt200t70.asp

Just wanted to get some last minute opinions before I jump on this.

Thanks.

[Hash_man]

The camera seems kinda cool...as you said it is brand new, so I havent had a chance to use it many times, but it seems like a big improvement over the T100... as now the zoom is actually usefull past 3.5X.

IMO i don't really like the touch screen, but in a super small camera like that there aren't many with a good zoom. The closest canon would be something like the SD850 IS, has a 4x zoom though and a 2.5" screen... it is a really nice camera, but pretty different than what you're looking at.