The good: Attractive design; large, useful feature set; nice 3.5-inch LCD; fast performance.

The bad: Touchscreen not for everyone; soft images.

The bottom line: Part smart-looking snapshot camera, part 4GB portable digital photo album, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 will satisfy those who like showing off their pictures as much as they like taking them.

The good: 28mm wide-angle lens; fast DIGIC 4 imaging chip; large 3-inch LCD.

The bad: Lacks optical viewfinder; power button difficult to press.

The bottom line: Though the 870 IS isn't perfect with its noise issues and minor design faults, it still remains an excellent compact camera. A sharp lens, fast image-processing times and fantastic picture quality make the IXUS an ideal combination of style and substance.

The good: 28mm wide-angle lens; stylish design; HD-video-recording capability; fast-performing High-Speed burst mode; touchscreen operation.

The bad: Noisy images above ISO 200; inconsistent autofocus; awkward positioning of popup flash.

The bottom line: The NV100HD is a stylish point-and-shoot that has plenty of functions for shutterbugs who want everything, but we wished its image quality could be better.

The good: Interesting touchscreen interface; iPhone-like playback navigation; lush 3.5-inch LCD.

The bad: Below-average image quality; no control over zoom speed.

The bottom line: The S60 tries hard to differentiate itself from other shooters by having innovative navigation options, but sadly its image quality isn't up to expectations.

The good: Good quality images even at high ISO; reliable automatic EXR mode switches between different settings accurately; wide dynamic range.

The bad: Boring design; limited manual exposure function; no HD video-recording feature.

The bottom line: Despite minor flaws, we were captivated by the incredible image quality from the F200EXR, considering it is just a point-and-shoot. By far one of the best midrange compacts we've tested.