I am strictly an ameture photo guy...OUr primary criteria was keep it simple but with flexibility if we need it. Had it out of the box and running in 15 minutes. Looks like it has lots of adjustments, but I will most likely keep it on AUTO.
My wife has small hands and loves the fit... I have X-large hands and it is very comfortable to me as well.
Generally this camera gets great reviews and the only negetive that concerns me is that it may have a weak auto focus... primarily on faces... we'll see. I really like the LCD and it has nice larger icons and print and great "twist"

Definitely get a set of NIMH's and a charger. This baby uses 4 at a time. Some careful shopping and you should be able to get a set with charger for under 30; stay with 4 hours to overnight faster chargers will eat the batteries up.

I did a lot of comparisons between this and other models and makes of cameras...and read a lot of + and - reviews...for the bucks (329) this was very reasonable... I would not pay more.

I will up date this is 6months after we get some milage on this pig.