Digital? Camera??

Hi everyone. I've been working with computers for a very long time now, but othet than hooking them up to the pc and doing some basic photo editing, I'm a complete n00b when it comes to digital cameras. I'm planning to purchase one sometime soon and I was wondering if you could help me out. I'm looking for something in the $100 - $300 price range. I go out to clubs a lot, so i need a pretty compact one so i could fit it into my pocket and i also want it to be fast startup so that i can take pictures as a spur of the moment. I would also like a 2.5 or a 2 inch lcd screen and a camera that would function well at night. I also travel a lot so i take scenic photos. I'm pretty much looking for something good and compact with no less than 5mp or 6mp. I was thinking of the canon powershot sd400 just because i have seen an amazing review of it on anandtech.com Let me know what you guys think and if there's a better option for the money and the features. Thank you all very much in advance.

This week I am going to buy the Fuji FinePix E900. It costs about $100 more than you want to spend but if you are frequently shooting at clubs it may be worth it. Check this review and see what it says about low and available light shots.

I was actually thinking of narrowing down with either the canon sd 450 or the sd 500. I've always liked canon printers for photography. The e900 is really out of my price range though. I was just wondering what the differences between the 500 and 450 are and is it worth the 30 dollar jump and the shrink in lcd size. (i've been looking on pricewatch)

At B&H a store that comes highly recommended on this forum the price difference is only $15. For 15 bucks I would go for the higher resolution. There are reviews of these cameras and a section about camera dealers that you should chech out before buying.

See what really bothers me about the 500 is the smaller lcd. How big of a difference do the megapixels make?