The Powershot range tend to be really good. A range of automatic and manual features, and produce good shots whatever you do really, which is often important.
Get two sets of very powerful rechargables.. 2400mAh ones are good. The normal capacity ones aren't nearly as good. Even if the lens is covered, I think you should get a cleaning set as it will get dirty, and I've never noticed small scratches on lenses, even with lenses costing 5 times as much as you want to spend on the whole camera.
I wouldn't get an SLR unless you are really serious, as it's a waste of money. Cheaper cameras will do the same job for most people.
Don't worry about shutter speed - all cameras that cost more than £150 will go up to at least 1/500 second which is fine for capturing motion.
I personally prefer removing the memory card and reading it, compared to using the built in USB, but that is probably because my laptop has a card reader, so I don't need to carry a cable around with me.
Sorry to disagree with you so much on most points Kev... but I do have to agree that your choice of camera (Fuji S5500) is a very good one. Feature packed and works well.
I own a Konica Minolta Z1, which is quite good, but has some annoying problems that would preclude it from your selection, especially if you wanted to take loads of pictures of cars.
