Looking to buy a new camera

[iFargle]

Price limit: ~$300. I'll go more if it's truly compelling for me to do so.

Here's what I'm looking at:
Samsung 20.3MP Wi-Fi Digital Camera

What do you guys think?

TBH I don't really know what I want in a camera. I'd like manual focus or the ability to take nice macro shots. I'm a noob when it comes to cameras and all the jargon involved

Type of pictures I'll be taking:
Pictures of children.
No seriously. I work at a school. Don't judge
Mostly for school events (ie awards assemblies, etc)

Pictures of cars
My brother is a huge car guy and he's been wanting a good camera for a while

Pictures of electronics
A given. I'm a techie.

Are there any things I should look for in a camera? A full blown DSLR is way out of my budget and reviews seem to be fairly positive for this camera.

Thanks for any input!

EDIT: Also, I don't really care about what kind of video it can shoot. Just looking for a decent still picture camera.

 

[Oreo]

Okay here is my opinion.

1) Don't even bother looking at MP. Unless you are doing huge prints, less is more. 10 to 12mp is great. Less pixels means they can be bigger, which means you get better low light performance with less noise.

2) If your taking pictures of kids, a camera with quick and reliable auto focus would be nice to have.

3) A camera with good manual options is useful. Sometimes a roughly-right photo is better than no photo. What I mean is, if you set up your camera in manual to be approximately right for the scene, you can take photos instantly in quick action. In fully auto, it'll hunt around for a second or two and you may well totally miss the shot.

4) Going used might be a way to get good camera for your money.

I'll take a look around and see what I can find for you.

edit:

So straight away the Canon S110 stands out as a prime candidate. Best in class photo quality before going to a full on DSLR or Micro 4/3rds.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/canon-powershot-s110-review-20901

Decent review ^

 

[iFargle]

Upping my budget... What'll $500 get me?

EDIT:

Yeah, Megapixel doesn't matter to me much. I know to watch out for something like.. ISO / noise ratio or something. The higher the ISO the higher the amount of noise and whatnot.

I want to avoid grainy pictures as much as possible

I'm looking really hard at this...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CCGZ6PO/ref=twister_B003ZYF3LO?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't know if I'll get the zoom lens though. $50 isn't too bad, but I wouldn't use it all that much.

I'm also interested in long exposure shots.

 

[Kingdom_Seeker]

For $500 you can get a descent DSLR camera. I might recommend a Nikon D 3200 or a D3000. Both take amazing photos and are very reasonably priced. What I do when looking at cameras (which I am right now) is google the name and look for reviews. I also go to flickr to see photos taken with that camera. My intentions are to buy a D3200 in the next couple of weeks but I never know exactly what I'll get until I actually buy one.

PS: I posted this before looking at you link. I agree with your choice.

 

[iFargle]

Yep, bought the D3100 months ago It's an awesome camera.

 

[Kingdom_Seeker]

LOL, I didn't notice how old the post was. Glad you like it. I believe that will b emy next camera also or the D3200.