Canon, Casio, Kodak, I'm so confused

[jnadelman]

I am looking to get a camera, and I thought I knew which one, and then I got really confused. I can't tell the difference between them anymore.

Price: Under $300
Size: A small as possible, wife complains I don't take enough pictures of the kids, so I need something I can carry around easily as much as possible.
Resolution: 5 mega pixels. No point in getting less now a days, but hey, more is better if it is cheap enough.
Use: Mostly the kids, inside and outside
Features: I want some decent video if possible. A view finder but only becuase I'm not used to using a screen. If the view finder is no good, I can live without it. Not sure if I need some sort of image stablization or anti shake. I'm thinking without a view finder, I would want that right?. I wuold prefer SD memory cards, and a long battery life.

This is what I narrowed it down to, but feel free to add to the list.
Canon SD450
Kodak v530
And then there is Casio. I have no idea what the difference is between many of these (I think some are just the older versions that might not be available any more)
EX-S500
EX-Z50
EX-Z500
EX-Z60
EX-Z600

I think the EX-Z60 is the upgrade to the EX-Z50, and the 60 is now 6 mega pixels. What I can't undesrtand is the pricing, becuase I am seeing the 50 for $299 but the 60 is coming in less at $249

Please help

[coldrain]

If you just want a point and shoot compact, the small canons are hard to beat in image quality (Sd450/550, and the new lineup). You can also look at the small Sony's, like the W50 and P200.

[sw2cam]

KODAK color is hard to beat period.