what you want is a good canon. important is optical image stabilization. thats the only kind that isn't marketing bs...for those shaky hands. also sensor size/sensitivity matters a bit for low light and well again..to compensate for the lack of stable hands and perhaps expertise. dpreview and other sites have reviews and detailed specs. at that price point options will be a bit limited to if you can find a good sale on such a cam. you might want to forgo the tiniest cameras, hard to hold stable, and the increased engineering challenge means generally for a given price the picture won't be as good. the smallest cams tend to have small sensors= less light per pixel=more noise and less sensitivity. add a smaller lens for gathering light and you got a mess..many of em only work ok outside in bright sun. and don't get wowed by megapixels. small sensor+ more megapixels = less light per pixel.= nothin but noise... picture without detail.
just one example..
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408...roup/page9.asp
10mp beating 15mp samsungs etc.
there are also different sensor types, generally each manufacturer has specialized sensor tech on their nicer ones to boost sensitivity in low light as well.
those expensive dslrs and such have giant sensors. sadly you'll have to do the leg work reading reviews. the megapixel marketing race has really messed up any easy way to judge quality of cameras glancing at specs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor_format