This site has an extensive collection of digital camera reviews and sample shots. It's well worth spending some time there.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Personally, I would go for something that uses as many standard accessories as possible - it makes it cheaper and easier later on. Of all the different types of expansion card I prefer Compact Flash. This is, by far, the most versatile. Did you know that, for example, in one of its interface modes, a Compact Flash card behaves just like an IDE hard disk drive?
http://linitx.com/products/compact_flash_ide_adapter/
At the moment I am attracted to the Canon A70 at about £210 + vat. It uses Compact Flash and standard AA batteries - well worth a look IMHO.