Weekend Parties & Photos

This weekend was full; Saturday night I hosted a grill-out party; it was fun, and it went late, but I think the mosquitoes ate more than the people did — and the people ate a lot. In fact, the party spilled over into Sunday morning. Folks went home, and then some of them came back tonight for round two. Too bad that work beckons in the morning for everyone.
 
I've decided that a digital camera is in my future. As well as a Mac. I've wanted one for a while now, but the lure of iPhoto and the other iApps is too strong to resist once one's actually considering a digital camera. Plus, OS X rocks.
 
I don't know that I'll take the G5 plunge now or wait for the new G5 iMac. I'd rather have the pro machine with the 23" HD monitor, but justifying it in terms of hobby-like photography is tough.
 
But the real problem is with the camera. I'm conflicted; I'd like a small and portable camera, because I figure I'll get more use out of that type of camera; I have an old Eos Rebel that I love, but it's big and bulky and difficult to travel with. Not the kind of camera you can take with you and snap photos any old place. It's what I might call a "destination camera." The sort of camera that requires constant planning for its use. You take it with you when you're going someplace where you're sure you want pictures. So I'd like the portability of something smaller.
 
I'd also like, however, to get the resolution and picture quality that's available from nice lenses and mondo-megapixel cameras. Additionally, everybody and his brother is making digital cameras nowadays; sifting through all the different models to find one that's appealing may take some serious time.
 
I've looked at cameras from Canon and Minolta, and I've read good and bad things about both. But that's just scratching the surface. I've used a Kodak EZShare, but it's a couple years old.
 
Several of you out there have digital cameras, I'm sure. Your comments are welcome and would be of some assistance as I begin the trek into the wilderness of digital camera-buying land.