BlueJ
There are many good makes, but personally I would be sure to get one which comes with a cradle, into which the camera is placed for downloading of pics, and recharging. My brother has just bought a cheapo exilim (no cradle) and it also uses standard AA batteries. In my experience, the rechargeable versions of those do not last long between charges (less than half life of normal batts). The exilim/cradle job I have has a long life battery pack <-- definitely recommended if you go on long trips and cannot recharge while you're away. I shot 120+ pics with mine, plus about 10 videos and numerous sound files, and the recharge indicator didn't go into the red zone until the last day of the 2-week trip.
Also, the standard memory card will likely be 128MB. I found I needed at least 512MB. There are plenty of aftermarket memory cards to be had on eBay.
Yes MiniD is a formidable photographer, but... I like a camera which I can keep in my pocket!