My old, old camera is dying, need a sugestion on a 10x zoom (although tia wants a slr) camera. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just one that will scream "YOU ARE TAKING A LOUSY SHOT!!!" (lol)

I would recommend a camera that has an image stabilizer. It is useful when you are taking photos at full zoom :)

The Panasonic DMC-FZ7
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/fz7.html
Jan owned an old version of it if I remember well.

The Canon S3IS
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/s3is.html

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/h5.html

I would take the Canon because I love those LCDs that can rotate. My old cameras are the Canon Pro90IS and the Nikon Coolpix 5000 and both have the same kind of LCD. It is very useful for taking photos of insects at ground level or photos above the crowd. It uses AA batteries and I like that too.
That said, they are all good now :)

A SLR is usually faster, better at high ISO, but for the photos quality it really depends on what lenses you are using. Also, they don't take movies.

Hey Amanda I would listen to Olly he knows what he's talking about.:D

Taking movies I don't really care about. Tia is strongly lobbying for an SLR.

I would take the Canon because I love those LCDs that can rotate.

That is a strong selling point. I am a researcher to the extreme, Don and Tia want to buy now. I need to check everything first

(although tia wants a slr) Good choice!Check this camera,Canon 400D/Digital Rebel XTi
http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_400D/index.asp?ComponentID=390772&SourcePageID=164046#1
with this lens,Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5DC Macro
http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lenses/dclenses/17-70mm.htm
http://www.photoboard.eu/board/showthread.php?t=540

I believe you will not need other lenses and you will take excellent photos :)

You can read reviews of the Canon 400D/XT Rebel XTi at http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/digital_rebel_xti-review/index.shtml and http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon400D/index.shtml
It looks very good :)

The Sony Jan uses has an image stabiliser which can be useful when using big zooms.

I would still also suggest the Nikon D50. It does its job well and it is almost half price compared to the new Canon 400D here (something like 440 euro Vs 740 euro). It is "only" a 6mp but do you often do large prints?
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/d50-review/index.shtml
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50
Not the best, but a great value for money.