Canon Powershot Ultrazoom SX-100-IS is at Staples B&M clearance for $163 INSTANT. With an extra 12% off this Wednesday only (if your Staples is participating in the one-day extra discount). YMMV on finding stock. Many stores showing one but some of these units will not be in sellable condition.
The SX100 is an OK camera. Unlike a SLR display model, there is no worry about a SX100 display model needing to have its sensor cleaned. However, it does not have the fine pixal to sensor size ratio as cameras from the golden age of ultrazooms, but it is likely to have a better ratio than anything coming in the future. That said, newly arriving middle and higher end 2009 cameras are much more likely to have HD video clip recording abilities, smile detection, and other of 2009's "hot" features.
RIP
