I just bought the w290 DSC and it is great!!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Very Easy to use, Excellent quality and feature packed for a decent price

Cons: Can't zoom while recording. Does not come with a memory card.

The Bottom Line: 
Go to an Electronics store and compare picture Types VS Price you are the only one that will know if this is the right camera for you.

Author's Review
I recently bought the new 12 MP Sony Cybershot or the W290 DSC as I keep calling it. And really for the money it is an excellent camera. It comes packed with features and from what I thought it took pretty nice pictures. 

The camera is capable of zooming extremely far at a lower file size. By default the W290 DSC takes a 5mb size picture that is more than a full length mp3. But it also means you can print a very large picture. ( I have been told 4 foot high by 3 foot wide) with no distortion. I set the camera to the lowest setting for some extreme close ups at long distances... And let me tell you It is amazing what the Optical Steady Shot feature is capable of. (and still prints a 5x7 with no distortion I haven't tried any bigger yet) The W290 DSC far exceeded my expectations!!

Sony kept most of the menu options in 1 button (menu imagine that). And even with my fat fingers I don't accidentally push buttons. Even with the huge 3 inch LCD screen. 

The w290 dsc has a smile detection feature that is pretty cool.  You can set the sensitivity level to high or low which is great for those hard to get pictures. Like my son during 8-12 months he would look and look away so fast it was hard to get a picture with my phone or even our Polaroid. It takes pretty good movies too. We recorded the fireworks and then plugged the camera directly into the front of the television using the supplied RCA cables. And my son now 14 months loves to watch the "BOOM BOOM's" in high def over and over again  

The W290 DSC has 5 shoot selections that are accessible with a dial type control and PICTURES!

1. For video - You can take video in settings from high definition to web video. But you can only zoom in and out before you start shooting not while you are shooting.   :(

2. Scene selection - Where you can select from fireworks to under water. You need an optional 50 - 75 dollar package for underwater.

3. Easy shooting - for a point and shoot with a simplified display
 
4. Intelligent Auto Adjustment- which I usually use because it handles most of what I need it for. The face detection is also pretty neat. It actually LOCKED ON like a fighter plane to an Eagle I was taking a picture of in the sky!!! 

5. Program Auto - with automatic exposure and adjustable settings.

This digital camera has more options and features than I can write about here. But don't just take any bodies word for it go to Best Buy and play with it yourself!!!

p.s. Try taking an extreme close up of another UPC label and then try it with other camera's.