I'm looking to purchase a camera as a graduation present. The graduate is an amateur camera user who wouldn't need much in the way of manual controls

I personally think two big things are important to me: Memory and Zoom. Well, the quality of the picture is important, too, but most cameras take a decent picture.

Memory is important only because of the availability of it. I bought an Olympus camera when I graduated from college, and while I loved the camera, the memory was not as easy to get, and it was always pricey. The XD cards were always more expensive than everything else. Compact Flash and SD cards are normally cheaper and easier to find than others. I haven't heard anything that there's anything technically wrong with these cards, in that they are an inferior card compared to something like the XD cards. But, it is easier to find, there are more options, and they are a lot cheaper (and have rebates). So, I personally think that has been a big thing in choosing my next camera (since my Olympus just kicked the bucket).

The second thing is zoom. More specifically, optical zoom. Digital zoom is cool, digital zoom does a lot to get even closer. But, if you don't have good optical zoom, then I don't think you have something that really will allow you to really do as much. When I'm looking at a new camera, I'm looking to see what has the best zooms and gets me the closest. It's especially handy if you're going to be traveling and you want to get that close up on something that is not very close. You'll appreciate that extra optical zoom. The digital zoom will make it even closer, but the optical zoom is what will make the most difference and what you'll use the most.

The last thing is that, no matter what camera you buy, check out eBay. They tend to sell cameras for the same price as you'd find on most online stores, but sell them with a bunch of packages with a bunch of accessories.

So, personally, I'm looking into the FujiFilm S700 because it allows me to use both SD cards and XD cards. The DSC-W55 seems to be the better camera, but even better than that, I'd look into the Canon A570 IS. It seems that you're looking for the small, compact size, so that would fit while still being in the same budget.

Hope that helps.