Yes being able to use goold old NimH AA's is a real bonus and they do seem to last ages in my Fuji S5500. Of course sadly these are not cameras which can be kept in a pocket unlike the Panasonic TZ3 or even the Nikon S10 (which is now available for about £150) and both of which have 10x optical zoom.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/spec...ikon_cps10.asp