My guess is that you will get a different answer from everyone on the list. You say, "for the money". Do you mean a lot of money or litlle money? Some recent discussion on the dpreview leads me to think that the discontinued Canon G3 could be a contender for a affordable great camera. Folks have posted on that forum that they have picked them up for under $400. Sounds like you will have to be quick to get one though.
here is a discussion about G3's at dpreview
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=8202077
I bought a Canon S50 because I needed a pocketable camera. It doesn't have the hot flash shoe that the G3 has and I really wish I had that. I haven't been watching Sony, but the 717, if it is still available or in closeout pricing could be another consideration. I think that Jay Luto's pics are with a G2 or G3? and Ghazanfar Ghori's pics are with a 707 or 717? Somewhere on this board is a thread about what camera do you use? You could check it out. Also have seen some positive comments about the Canon S1 IS but have not seen reviews.
Happy hunting,
Jay Reeves
P.S. if you are doing serious price shopping watch the lists at dpreview. Good deals from reputable sources get noticed. So do "deals" from the scoundrels. It's a good place to do a reality check.
Thought you might enjoy a tour of New York retail / internet camera outlets
http://www.panix.com/~donwiss/pictures/BrooklynStores/ 8)