I love my canon Ixus 400 (superseded by god knows what model). OK it is 'only' 4 mega pixels but it is very small, 3x zoom, easy to use and takes great photos. Even with the hard case I bought it fits in the pocket. It's fine for pics up to A4 size.
Depends what you want it for though.
Personally I wouldn't carry an SLR around, but if you want to take paparazzi beach shots then you need one to put a hubble telescope zoom lens on.
http://www.dpreview.com is a good site for camera reviews