Scott and William,
I would suggest from my experence to get the Nikon 4300. I have the Nikon Coolpix 880. The 4300 looks very similar to it. I love it, if you go to the Yahoo site and look at my pics under Wayne's World they were all taken with my 880. I did NOT do any tinkering with the photos on my computer, they are right from the camera. Some were shot in full auto mode and some shot using macro. I take a lot of pictures and am very happy with it. I do a lot of macro shots in our flower garden, I like zooming down close to a flower with macro. I also have the extra lens, both wide angle and zoom for it and many of the digital cameras don't use extra lens. Photography is my second hobby after woodworking. You can't get the 880 anymore, I think that Nikon found out they were giving away to much with it but like I said earlier, the 4300 looks close.
If either of you have any more questions feel free to ask, it might be easier and quicker to e-mail me and it won't take up as much bandwith here.
For what its worth,
Wayne Swindlehurst