I've just been through the same hoop, wanting to buy a high quality compact super zoom for the occasions when lugging my heavy DSLR is inappropriate.
My choice came down to Canon versus Panasonic (Lumix), but the latter were ejected from the equation on a point of principle when I learned that they have "chipped" batteries that lock you to genuine replacements at forty quid a pop.
This left Canon and their SX20 (near DSLR body size so not exactly compact but 20x optical zoom) and SX200 (compact and 12x optical zoom). I ended up purchasing the
SX200 last week and am delighted with it. Storming picture quality, the 12x optical zoom, 720 HD video, fast operation, large clear display, and all the control features that as a photographer of nearly forty years I seek. It is nicely made too, and has the fancy features such as face recognition (one of the self timer options is to set it to wait until another face - yours - walks in to frame, then take three shots) if that's your bag. I don't
need it, but I have tried it, and it works nicely!
Since buying it I have added the
CHDK firmware hack to add RAW format files and to allow optical zoom during video
Works a charm, without modifying the Canon firmware; the hack is few files placed on the SD card that are read when the camera is booted and then held in volatile memory. The hack adds or in some cases unlocks loads of features as well as the two that I wanted, all accessed by pressing the PictBridge "print" button in playback mode, and then pressing the Menu button. Lo and behold a well structured and comprehensive menu of the addition features is then displayed.
Canon UK have a £45 cashback deal at the moment, so I paid £175 (£220 from Amazon less the cashback). A bargain, and if it is as utterly reliable as every other Canon I've owned, I'll still be saying the same in years to come.