I've had a couple of Sony cameras now & I like their performance and memory formats. The one we use most often now is the Sony DSC W7. It's a 7.2 mega-pixel. It's a nice size camera that fits comfortably in your hand. It will fit in my shirt pockets, but it's not one of the little "skinny" cameras that Sony builds. It's just a nice size. I personally like the Sony Memory sticks. The W7 camera uses conventional size batteries.

http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/sony-cybershot-dscw7-reviews.html 

Personally, I use REchargable Ray-O-Vac 15 minute charge batteries. I'm quite surprised at how long a fully charged set of batteries will last in the camera. You can take a lot of flash pictures before batteries go down. The 15 minute charge batteries require a special battery & charger. But-they're very available. I bought mine charger/batteries @ Farm & Fleet. The charger will charge conventional rechargables also....but just not in 15 minutes (or less!).

I'd buy all the megapixels you can afford (tough decision!). Many good features out there on cameras. Very competitive market. Everyone thought Kodak would die when the world switched to digital. Well, they came back with some very good digital cameras & have good marketing also.

Re. downloading, I personally find the fastest/easiest way is thru USB to computer. I used to take memory sticks out & use internal card reader. But-it seems much faster w/cable USB. If you're using Windows XP, once you do this maneuver, the computer will know what you want to do the next time & automatically bring up the programs to use for downloading....at least "here" it does.

Good luck. There are probably no bad choices. Most cameras have a "simple mode" and then you can get very in-depth with their use & adjustments if you want. BTW-I bought my Sony W7 @ local Staples when they had one of their sales. They were more than competitive w/"on-line" stores & I did NOT have to wait.