Has the MP and Zoom race killed the Point and shoot ?

Has the megapixel and zoom raced killed the point and shoot.
I am in the market for an ultra zoom point and shoot. ( 20 X + )
None of the reviews I have read give stellar points for IQ above ISO 200
Some start to have noise at ISO 100. Some have " Sub Par IQ " all the way through .
The Fuji HS10 30 Zoom ( Not even out yet ) is alredy having noise review problems .
The common Sensor is the 1/2.33 on cameras like Pentax X90 or Nikon P90
Too small ??
I would be more happy with a 8mp camera that gives good picture quality
with low noise then a 12 mp Noise camera.
Am I asking for too much ??

Sorry for the Rant ..

Fred..

Nope your not asking too much...but this subject it is clearly affected by the the law of supply and demand. The general public thinks that the greater MP and now zooms equals a better camera....it is outrageous to see some price tags of many P&S´s and how poorly they perform.

The ISO race in SLR´s is taking up speed lately...I assume this race will eventually catch up the P&S market, which BTW it is changing since the hot thing this days are the ultra-super-mega compact SLR´s

Uninformed buyers will always look at the bigger numbers in the specs... which we know bigger does not mean better in this world of photography.

I have a simple Kodak 7.0 mp point and shoot that is a breeze to use. I have been going back and forth between an entry level DSLR and one of the advanced compact ulttra zooms for a while now. I have two 35mm slr's but I am not sure I want to go that route again (the expense and ease of use). I have been looking at the Panasonic FZ35 but, even though it gets better reviews for picture quality than most of the other maga zooms I am a little leary.

There are some great P&S out there some very expensive which perform well up to ISO 400 / 800, now the ones with a more to earth price don’t do hi ISO unfortunately but can be excellent under good lighting conditions and compact in size.

I some times use an FZ7 (only 6 MP) for its versatility and under good light takes excellent photos maybe not to print 16X10 but very usable and nice images.