Well to start with, it is one of the best point to shoot cameras out there in current market. Some quick pros and cons. The reasons for my buying are:
1.Optical Zoom 16x : (It is a awesome feature for this price)..clear image for longer distance object.
- AA batteries : I was looking for a cam which can take AA rechargeable batteries, because they are cheap and readily available anywhere in the world. Unlike in other cams they provide lithium-ion batteries they are like RS2500 to carry a spare and moreover just imagine u r in a big trip and batteries are down...lithium-ion has less recharge cycles though. lithium-ion has advantages like low weight and more charge carry.
3.CCD Image sensor : they provide accurate and great picture than CMOS sensor.
4.Look and Feel.
5.Good Image Stabilizer.
Cons
no Inbuilt Panorama..big deal..there are many free panorama software, with which u can stitch images later.
0.8 FPS (I have no intention of taking more images in 1 sec).
720p recording (Not a bit con but people who consider 1080i recording for them a note, for me 6 min of 720p took almost 1gb and it was great on my 40 inch LCD). just Youtube it for test videos taken using canon sx160.
Last but not the least, a camera worth buying!