Really excellent cameras under $300?

I'm asking for a camera for Christmas, and I don't want to spend too much on it. I've heard a little about the new canon and the new nikon, but I don't know which ones exactly. I mostly just want a regular digital camera that takes the best picture possible, for under $300.

I bought Canon PowerShot SX210IS 3 weeks back and i'm very impressed. The pics are as good as my DSLR and the zoom with image stabilization is very good performance wise. DIGIC 4 processor is quick like a T1i. I live in Seattle and have used this camera for long shots of the olympia mountains(50 miles) and Seattle downtown from my apartment in Bellevue which is about 25 miles away and i have seen the crispness and zoom quality to now recommend this camera.
Also shot a lot of pics indorrs in low light and outdoors when i visited Tulip town last week. Everybody who has looked at the pics could not differentiate if these were from my DSLR or the powershot SX210IS.

There are some design features like the flash being where our left hand would hold the camera and the need to keep your left hand off it when you power up. Otherwise Canon's got a winner here… Great pics with superb zoom and stabilization done right. Very Strongly Recommended.