I had an HP and it was good, but slow and only had digital zoom - I didn't know anything about digicams when I bought it; it was my starter cam. It was slow and clunky, but a real workhorse and produced really good pictures. The software is easy to use too. It lasted until I dropped it at Niagara Falls and discovered they didn't make the parts anymore.

It's been replaced by a Canon which I LOVE. The Canon has all kinds of controls that I'm just starting to play around with, including optical zoom. Shop around for the day after Thanksgiving deals - there will be TONS. I bought my Canon at Circuit City on sale for about $180.