Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 / DMC-TZ15 Digital Camera

It's slim, good looking and fits perfectly in one hand. I used to have some big, bulky "Pro" cameras but they were just impractical for daily use.
This one has excellent battery life, choice of easily accessible options and intuitive controls.
I took it for a trip around Manhattan - an all day trip from 9am to 8pm. I took approx 250 photos, constantly turning the camera on and off, using the flash approx 50% of the time.  The battery finally stopped working around 8pm.  I wish I had another one as a backup but still - 250 photos is a good deal for me.
This camera easily adjusts to different light conditions and corrects the balance of white.  That's really amazing.  I used to have more 'advanced' cameras with bells and whistles but they would never adapt to a different light that quickly.  I took some photos of the clouds - beautiful color balance and saturation.
Even if you run into a situation where auto-balance can't handle it  - you can always adjust it manually.  It's only two clicks away (+- and left/right arrows).  Really intuitive..
 
The wide-angle lens is great for city photos (downtown areas such as upper Manhattan).
I learned a neat trick - fine a shiny building, find a spot where you can see a reflection of ANOTHER building in it  and take a shot.  This camera focuses perfectly on things like that.
Also, the wide-screen mode is great for a modern TV set (plasma/lcd).  The images are displayed perfectly, at full-screen, without any grey bars on the sides.  I'm a  lucky owner of a TV with a built-in  SD card reader and watching photos is just a matter of popping the card in. 
 
The image stabilizer is fantastic, even when you shoot photos from a car.
The display is REALLY bright, even on sunny days. There are three levels of brightness. 
I love the face recognition option - the camera focuses on a person's face. Excellent option! It works even on faces of sculptures or large photos/posters. 
The final cherry on the cake is the 10X e-zoom. It's one-button operation which takes you zzzooooooooom all the way there in three seconds flat! The zoom works in a video-camera mode too, although you can hear the mechanism working, in the final recording. 
 
I like taking macro photos.  Flowers and bugs are really nice objects to photograph.  With this camera you don't need any fancy lens attachments.  You can take photos in a macro mode from literally - an inch away from an object!  Just crank-up the resolution to the highest available, turn on the stabilizer or put a camera on a tripod and shoot away!
By the way - I use same principle with distant objects (i.e. Mount Rushmore).  Of course for these photos I don't use the macro mode..
 
This camera is available in FOUR colors that I know about - black, silver, blue and red. I have the blue one. 
I've had it for almost a year now and it's not showing any sings of wear.  
 
It has a feeling (weight) of a professional piece of equipment at the price that raised many eyebrows. Pick this one, unless you a professional photographer and REALLY need all those bells and whistles. Even then - this would be a perfect back-up/emergency unit.
 
I highly recommend this camera!

One thing that's really missing is no carrying case of any kind.
This camera is one of the best digital cameras I've ever had.  It deserves some protection.  A small faux-leather pouch would  be a nice touch.