canon ixus 400, good - extremely good pic quality, (sharpness and contrast, exposure), fast in response compared with other brand, and small size, . bad - had to use rechargeable battery only, flash is not very enough (common drawback using samll DC). I don't know the actual price but it's around 2.5-2.9k
Also vote for Canon IXUS 400. As the latest IXUS 500 has just been released, the price for IXUS 400 should have been adjusted downward and can fit into your budget.