This is just a first, incomplete draft!

Kodak DX-6340

This was my first decent digital camera. I was trying to choose between the DX-6340 and the Canon A70, but went with the Kodak because the 4x optical zoom was 'zoomier' than the 3x on the Canon.
It had less detailed options than the Canon, though. While the Canon had options for contrast, saturation, image size and level of compression, the DX-6340 just had 3 levels of 'quality' - Good, Better and Best. In particular I didn't like that it compressed images more than I liked (and more than some other cameras) and I had no control over the amount of compression.
Despite this, when prints were made they looked good.

I did subsequently try someone's Canon A70, but was surpised to find it plasticky feeling in comparison to the Kodak.
I've heard that Kodak cameras boost colour and contrast over what is there in real life - and that was true with this camera. But if the fact that it's inaccurate doesn't bother you then it really does give pleasing, snappy prints.
The flash is more powerful than average, and gives pretty accurate exposures too.
Focus was quicker than the average of the day, and it wasn't too bad in dim light either. It had wide area autofocus, and the particular frame selected by the camera lit up. Although focus was quick, the camera was slow to start-up, and slow to 're-start' when a different mode on the dial was selected.

Modes include Program, Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and 'scene modes', and shutter speeds and aperture values can be displayed on screen.
Felt very pleasingly solid and well made. A definite quality feel to it.
Its LCD was better than average too. Clear and colourful, and a bit easier to see in daylight than some other brands.

In general I did rather like this camera, but I realised that what I wanted was 2 separate cameras - one with a long zoom, and one that was tiny and pocketable, and the DX-6340 was neither.

Minolta Dimage X, Konica Minolta Dimage X20 and Xg

I love these little cameras.
They're truly pocketable, whichI find useful because I try to take a camera with me wherever I go.
They all have wide area autofocus, but with no indication of which area is selected within that.
The X20 has marvellous close-up ability, without having to select 'macro' mode.

The Dimage X was the first in the series, and had quite an impact when it was introduced. It has a metal body. The X20 is a budget model with a plastic body, but still seems pretty tough.
The X and X20 are 2 megapixel models. Everyone looks down on that these days, but it's supposed to be adequate for 5x7 prints. I've only tried 4x6 prints, and they were fine.
The Xg is a 3 megapixel camera, and metal bodied.
THe budget 3 megapixel in the Dimage series is the plastic bodied X31, but I don't like its lack of sound recording in movie mode.

Shutter speeds and apertures are not displayed.
The cheaper cameras - the X20 and X31 - use AA batteries and have no viewfinder, only the LCD screen.
THe premium cameras - X and Xg - use a proprietary battery (an NP200) and have both an optical viewfinder and the LCD screen.

I've read reviews saying that the lenses in these little cameras aren't as sharp as you'd get in a comparable but regular sized camera. And have slightly more distortion and vignetting. That may be true, but it's far better to get such an image than to not get one at all - which you'd be likely to do if you didn't have a camera with you, because it wasn't pocketable.
When I know I'm going to take photos I take my SLR, but at other times I carry one of these.
There are of course later models with more megapixels...

Other brands make small flat cameras too - the Canon Ixus series, some of the Pentax Optios. What I like about the Dimages over these others is that the lens zooms within the body of the camera. I feel that this protects it a little. It's also good in case you accidentally turn the camera on while it's still in its case - with an internal zoom, doing that won't hurt it. Mind you, the newer Olympus and Sony flat cameras have internal zooms too, and some of them have very large LCDs. Although, they take more expensive memory - xD and Memory Stick cost more than the SD cards used in the Dimage X series.

Olympus C-725

The C-725 was my next camera after the Kodak DX-6340. I chose it because I wanted a camera with a long zoom, and this was the cheapest I could find from an established manufacturer. It has an 8x optical zoom.

It has a lot of user-adjustable & customisable settings, many of which are accessed by 1 or 2 button presses, not buried deep in the menu system. It's an older style body, slightly bigger than the newer Olympuses, but I like the handgrip being bigger than newer models too. I love the long zoom!

Flash exposure is not always as accurate as the Kodak DX6340, but that can be modified - it does have flash exposure compensation.
There is no sound in the movie mode.
Autofocus was a little slow, especially when zoomed in, and doubly so in lower light. As with most digital compacts there is no manual focus - although I was always able to use AF (sometimes slowly or by focusing on a different object at same distance).
Also like most digital compacts, there is no hot shoe, nor sync socket.
Takes xD cards, which are more expensive than SD or CF.
Good physical quality; Good image quality; Takes AA batteries. For highest quality it can take pictures as TIFFs rather than JPGs.

In summary it was bargain priced, took great photos, but autofocus was too slow for my liking. And I didn't like the lack of sound in the movie mode.

Konica-Minolta Dimage Z3

I bought this to replace the C-725, because the AF was quicker.

12 optical zoom

Delightfully quick autofocus in good light, but still poor when used zoomed in, in lower light.

Hotshoe - but Minolta hotshoe.

EVF rather than optical - OK for an EVF, but since I have also used interchangeable lens SLRs with optical viewfinders, I'll state that all the EVFs I've used are rubbish compared to SLR optical viewfinders.

High quality movie mode - limited only by the capacity of the SD card. However, my camera kept dropping out every couple of minutes in order to write to the card. Maybe a faster card would have solved this?
When used outdoors, wind noise is a big problem for the built-in microphone.
Despite the high quality movie mode, the Z3 still is not a replacement for a dedicated video camera.

I love image stabilisation. (more to come....)