Image stabilisation is of dubious value and often loses definition.
Image stabilization won't solve all problems when taking pictures, but the more recent implementations do work.
My Canon PowerShot S1 IS works very well when taking pictures at full zoom while being hand held. It does have trouble at night where a tripod would help, but for situations where setting up a tripod isn't practical, the IS works very well.
I don't think the Canon S1 IS is powerful enough for what NWSRG wants though.