Dim surroundings?

[JustiNIC]

***Sorry, I posted this in the Help forum before I saw this one... mods feel free to delete the other one or whatnot.***

Hey, this is my first post here, be gentle.

I got a Sony T-1 for Christmas, and wound up taking it back because I hated the quality of the pictures it took. Horrible red-eye and bad, BAD shots in low-light conditions. I got the Canon Powershot A85 after some research, all of which seemed to tell me that this was the camera I was looking for.

However, I'm not satisfied with it either. About 90% of the pictures I take look very noisy, especially darker colors, and if you don't use the flash... forget about it. I want a digital camera that I can take to concerts and get good shots with (they usually don't allow flash). I go to shows for the University's newspaper and write up reviews, I want to get good shots to go along with the stories.

Does anybody have an idea of a good camera I can pick up that will take good, clear shots with a fast shutter speed and no flash in dim conditions? My price range is around $300-$400.

[DownByFive]

Well, p&s cameras tend to be noisy, but you should post some pictures to show us what your camera is doing. For that price range, you're going to be limited in the ISOs and shutter speeds that the cameras will have. There's a program called NeatImage that does a good job of getting rid of noise...