DON'T get the Sony H55. I bought one for Christmas and was totally disappointed.
I loved all the features but something was just off (megazoom is what really peaked my interest). That something was color saturation, the H55 saturates HEAVY in the blues, greens and especially the reds. Anything that is brown, red, orange is going to come out red. I tried all the features to fix this problem and nothing would work (including white balance). I tried post-editing and that wouldn't even help. My wife has brown hair, came out looking red. Brown trees, came out looking red. Fences around my neighborhood came out looking red, etc.,etc., etc. I literally walked around my neighborhood taking thousands of pictures. I would use several techniques to finally get that one good looking picture just to take it home and find out it was not good. And if was even WORSE in low light settings or any situation that needs a flash. I tried to force myself to like the pictures because I loved the functions and usability of the camera but I just couldn't convice myself. IMO the camera distorts the color reality. I could keep going on, but I am just saying don't get this camera.
If you are looking for a cheaper camera and don't really care what your pictures look like, go ahead and get it because the features and interface are pretty good.
If you care about your pictures, don't touch this camera.
I went and looked at about 5-6 other cameras after this and decided that picture quality means a lot to me. And I am not ready to drop the money on a DSLR, so I had to go with something quality. Just like anything else, you get what you pay for. I ended up between the Panasonic Lumix LX5 and Cannon S95. Both are great P&S cameras but I wanted something small because I plan on getting a DSLR within the year. So my choice was the S95 ($399) and I am totally in love with this camera. I sacraficed my megazoom feature that I wanted, but when I thought about it, when do I really need to take a clear picture of something over 100 yards away. And the picture quality is amazing, excellent low-light pictures (some don't even need the flash).
For the features and what you are looking to spend I suggest going down a level and getting the Sony W350. My wife's mom has one and the pictures came out MUCH better than the H55. Plus it is much cheaper. Other Lumix are worth checking out too, I just looked and BB has the ZS7 on sale for $198 (orig $350). I suggest you go play with a couple. I will say BB lighting doesn't represent what your pictures will look like outside of the store. Their pure white lights really help sell products.
