For that price range, I recommend the Canon S1 IS. I have been looking at buying this camera for a while and have been reading some reviews on it.
I have also talked to an owner of this camera, and played with it myself. From what I could tell it is quality made, and performed really well.
Highlights include:
10x optical zoom
Image stabilizer
Manual Focus
Flip out LCD display
Check
here for a full review. I definitely think this camera is worth consideration.