New camera suggestions?

So my Nikon died today and I need a new cam for my upcoming trip to Manhattan. Any good ones? Id like another Nikon but I'm open to other brands.

My picks:

<$200: Canon SX130IS, SX150IS
<$300: Nikon P7000, Nikon P300, P310, Canon S95
<$400: Nikon P7100, Canon G12, Canon S100, or Panasonic DMC-LX5
<$500: Olympus XZ-1

For the specific cameras I mentioned, most include manual exposure controls, fast lenses, and a couple of them even have manual focus capability and customizable white balance, not something normally seen in a compact camera.

Some have slightly larger sensors than the typical compact, and do not suffer from the overkill (at least as much) of high MegaPixel count sensors or ridiculously high power zoom lenses - both of which serve to reduce photo quality.

Which Nikon, why it died, did you attempt to get a repair, what happened?

For instance, if it was an F5 or F6, it is still totally rebuildable (unless you drove over it… )

"I'm open to other brands" - how come - you had only one cheap Nikon kit lens? If that's your level of quality acceptance then get any mid priced point and shoot, any make.

Do tell, intriguing…