I researched for two months before buying the Nikon coolpix 775 Christmas 2001, and the camera has been great.
Even at the smallest file/picture size settings, IMHO the picture quality far surpasses the Sony, Kodak, and Olympus digital cameras I use at work.
Other reasons I chose the Nikon , the time it takes the camera to cycle between pictures, and at the time I bought it, the Nikon was one of the only cameras to come with a camcorder type rechargeble battery.