I second the Canon recommendation. I've had 3. For that kind of money you can get a real nice one, depending on how sophisticated you want to get and how competent a photographer you are. I'm a point and shoot kind person but I like lots of megapixels. I recently bought the Powershot Pro 1. Its easy to use, has either LCD or viewfinder focusing and has 8 mp and a 7 x optical zoom. Its at the low end of your price range. If you are looking for something for a more experienced photographer, consider the Canon Rebel. You can purchase additional Canon lenses for it and its a Digital SLR. It too is within your range.
Hope this helps. Check out
www.dpreview.com or
www.steves-digicams.com