i bought the IXUS 300 several weeks ago, and have been very pleased. i did quite a bit of research (much of it at the excellent
Digital Photography Review site), and had narrowed it down to a few models, including the IXUS 300 and the nikon 995. in the end, i went with the IXUS for it's size. it gives you a bit less control over the exposure than the nikon, but the convenience of being able to easily slip it in a pocket more than makes up for the loss. if you're looking for a good point'n'shoot, you can't go wrong with the IXUS 300.
as hugo suggests, i picked up a 256 MB flash card for a good price on
buy.com. at the highest resolution and next-to-highest JPEG quality, it will hold nearly 500 photos. very nice.
i can email you a link to some photos from a recent vacation, if you're interested in samples.
--dan.