Canon and Nikon are the best brands, for P&S digital also.
<- Resiting urge to rant against brand fan boys... ... ... ...
... Failed.
Do you have anything to back up that claim, besides fanboyism. Remember its the brain that's behind the camera, that counts a whole lot more then the camera itself. Truth is different brand have their own strengths and weaknesses, but in the end the camera is just a tool to help you create the image you want/need. Different kind of tools work best for different people. Sure Canon, and Nikon are great, but Sony, Pentax and Olympus also make great p&s as well.
True story, I was in Best Buy a few weeks ago helping my parents pick out a P&S camera for my sisters birthday. The sales girl was trying to sell my parents a $130 Canon, meanwhile I was looking at everything they had in our price range. I found a Nikon model with the same specs, except for IS, and a viewfinder, (but the VF was so small on the Canon nobody would use it anyhow) for only $85
I asked the salesperson (she didn't know that I am a photographer) about it, and she said:
"Oh no, you don't want that, Canon's take better pictures."
me, " 'Just take better pictures' Why? How? They've got the same lens specs, same resolution, shutter lag seems the same."
her, "Well.. uh... ummm.. they just do, trust me."
me, "Is it the IS, cause she will be using it in daylight 90% of the time so that won't make a difference."
her, "No even in daylight Canon just takes better pictures."
me, "Better how? are they sharper? better color? better metering? White balance? JPEG processor?"
her, "I don't know really, they're just better."
me, "Really.. Umm... OK then, thanks for the help"
her, "Ummm... I'm gonna go help this gentleman now. Let me know it you need anything" walks away.
Anyways out of the 2 you mentioned I would go with the Sony over Kodak as well. Kodak makes GREAT sensors, (they make the sensor for the new Leica M9 which is amazing from the opinions I've read) but I'm not to confident in the quality of their overall products.
For P&S, I would say as long as you stick with any of the well known brands -Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus- that fit in your budget, and have the features you want would suit you fine. Though my brothers Canon p&s just crapped out on him after only 3 months, stripped the gears that drive the zoom, but that's probably a statistical anomaly (I hope).
Try them out, sometimes it's the subtle things that can make you love or hate a camera, like the shutter lag, or menu interface, or button placement, or grip.
