The good: Excellent photo quality for its class; optical image stabilization; pleasing interface and design; wide-angle lens.

The bad: Mode dial spins a bit too freely; button positioning might bother some users; very noticeable fringing.

The price: $246 to $470

The bottom line: Simply put, the Canon PowerShot SD880 IS is an excellent point-and-shoot camera.

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Canon PowerShot SD990 IS

Cnet rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (very good)

The good: Excellent picture quality; very good shooting options for its size.

The bad: Disappointing lens specs; mixed performance; high-resolution sensor adds little benefit; no HD video.

The price: $300 to $400

The bottom line: The Canon PowerShot SD990 IS is a fine ultracompact camera, but its price-to-feature benefits are questionable.

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Canon PowerShot SD790 IS

Cnet rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (very good)

The good: Great photo quality; interesting design.

The bad: Mixed performance; no optical zoom in movie mode.

The price: $160 to $206

The bottom line: For most people, the excellent photo quality of the Canon PowerShot SD790 IS will more than make up for any slight performance deficiencies or minor shortcomings.

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Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS

Cnet rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (very good)

The good: Great image quality; minimal shutter lag; speedy performance; optical image stabilization; face detection; optical viewfinder.

The bad: No manual exposure controls; slow flash recycle time.

The price: $155 to $279

The bottom line: Canon's SD1100 IS adds optical image stabilization to last year's hit SD1000, while delivering just as impressive image quality.

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These Cnet staff contributed to this report: senior editor Lori Grunin, senior editor Joshua Goldman, senior editor Philip Ryan, and front door editor Jennifer Sparkman. For more reviews of personal technology products, visit www.cnet.com.

This article appeared on page D - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle