I'm buying a new digital camera

[Hajar]

And have narrowed it down to three similar models from Canon, PowerShot A490, PowerShot A3100 IS and PowerShot A3000 IS. The only difference, that amateur that I am, can tell is the megapixels and price. I'll be basically taking photos outdoors and indoors, with probably some low-light involved. Also, I want something with an image stabilizer, which i'm not really really sure these three have. Even though I've read and reread reviews and the brochure. Information overload maybe? Anyway, I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could tell me the pros and cons of them. Oh, the product information link is here.
THANKS A LOT!

[gturner]

no thoughts on a Canon G11?

[inkista]

Here's dpreview's side-by-side.

There's not a lot to choose from between cameras at that price point, but the A490 is not stabilized, and has the smaller zoom range, and overall less capability. That you can't choose the amount of JPEG compression, to me, would be a deal killer, but if you just want a snapshot camera, it's probably fine.

The A3000 and A3100 are pretty much the same camera, with the only difference being the higher resolution sensor in the A3100. I'd say, of the three, the A3000 IS might be the best buy.

gturner: G11: $450. A3000 IS: $145.

[Hajar]

Not really no. Apparently I didn't my research as well as I thought if I didn't even realise this camera existed. Hah. Do you own it? And, on a scale of one to ten, how good is it?

[inkista]

It's a solid 10. The G11 is the top-of-the-line Canon point and shoot camera. It's got a larger sensor, a flash hotshoe, and shoots in RAW while offering all the PSAM modes (the A-series no longer does). It costs nearly as much as an entry-level dSLR ($450), as I posted above. It has very good low-light/high-iso performance for a point and shoot. It is, however, rather big and chunky.

I prefer the S90, which is what I purchased to replace my G9. It's much smaller, but has the same sensor and high iso performance, as well as a control ring around the lens that makes handling it a breeze.