any suggestions on a basic digital camera?

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As I leave for NYC in a week, I've managed to convince Mrs R (after several years of negotiation) that buying a digital camera would be a good idea (she likes her prints and old-fashioned analog photo albums and doesn't like having to mess with a PC to print them out for herself... I keep trying to convince her that photo albums will be a thing of the past in ten years but... sheesh...). We did some store browing (or analog shopping, as I like to think of it) and discovered that the camera we want will probably need the following features:

  • 3.2 MP
  • 3x optical zoom
  • SD card compatable
  • as small as possible

The unit I like so far is the Minolta Dimage Xt. The reviews on epinions seem very favourable. 

Here's the most amazing thing: I was intending to buy one duty free before leaving Australia. Our research in the stores today gave us an average price of AUD$599 - $650. A quick search of Amazon shows I can get one for USD$260 (AUD$340) plus S&H! That's almost half price. So much for the global economy! On Ebay the prices are about the same.  

Any free advice on whether or not this is a good basic camera would be much appreciated! Really only needed for your basic family photos, etc.