So true James! I turned on every one of the camera in the store and I really wasn't sure what I wanted in a point and shoot. As I've found a lot of people who carry a P/S and aren't into SLR, A LOT of my friends, myself included have some version of the Sony Cybershot. I swear by it, my best friend has owned three and purchased her husband one (all additions due to her losing it) and another close friend has an older model that she's dropped so many times it's cracked in the front-and still works. Another consideration is my laptop has a card reader in the front, so it might be wise to check and see what your mom's usage is going to be. While it isn't the BEST camera out there Kodak has a neat docking station/printer setup that's usally sold as a kit. Where as if she has a laptop with a reader you might want to go with a model that has that specific card reader to make for easy downloading? You can always buy readers, but sometimes cameras come with software and attachments that can be confusing for the not so savvy computer user. Hope my suggestions help!

Nat