nwsrg, there's really no way around it - you've got to do the legwork and look into all the options. As I said before dpreview.com is an excellent site for reviews and forums. For example:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/konicaminoltaa2/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons1is/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp8700/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms5000/
are the reviews for the prosumer cameras mentioned in this thread. Naturally dSLRs are a different league, and if you can afford the $$$ then... But I don't think that's what you're after, but other folk recommend them regardless!
