Hi Emma
I recently considered buying one of these until I saw the price !! I ended up buying a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28. This is the third "Panny" I've had and the best so far.It has a great optical zoom (18x) plus the added advantage of manual control, Aperture priority, Shutter priority etc, and also you have two settings where you can set your own favourites, as well as all the pre programmed settings. It also has a viewfinder and a 2.5" screen. I am totally pleased with it, and it only cost just over �200, nowhere near the figures they are quoting for the G1.Hope this helps.
FBG40