I bought this camera because i read many good reviews and it comes from an extremely well trusted brand.

Feature-wise it has enough settings to play around with, but not so many to be daunting. The intelligent auto mode seem to work in 995 of situations producing good results. Using the night sky mode i even managed to play around making pictures with a laser pointer, as this mode forces the shutter open for a set amount of time up to one minute. The one setting i would have liked would be an auto picture mode for timelapse work, but on a compact for this price, its hardly surprising they would not expect you to want this. I have not seen any other cameras with any more features for the price. The menus and settings are also fairly easy to use, and the lack of a wheel for controls mean you cant accidentally turn it onto settings you don't want. I normally switch between intelligent auto, and the "normal" profile for which i have forced flash off, as all other settings are great on auto.

The camera itself feels very well made and is metal rather than plastic. Everything feels solid and can easily stand up to a few bumps and knocks. The only gripe i have with this is the little door that hinges open to let you get at the battery and memory card (its an SD or SDHC card by the way). If you dropped the camera with this door open i could see it snapping, but other than that it is a very sturdy, yet lightweight and portable camera. The screen is also very clear, and you wont have too much trouble even on bright days. This is not a touch screen. Personally i see this as an advantage, touch screens on cameras are more toruble than they are worth.

It connects to the computer using a USB cable with Panasonics own special connection wire, but you don't need special software, you can just drag and drop files like a memory stick. You also get a good capacity battery and charger, and as a side note, the camera fits nearly any standard sized camera case. For the price i think this is an excellent camera. If you want a compact, get this one, very highly recommended.