Which camera?

I seriously think my first and only 4 year old Sony camera is dying on me. Even with the relatively new batteries which have just been charged, it fails to operate after just a while of using. Back in March, I was toying with the idea of getting a new one and then found out Adrian almost secretly bought one for me for my birthday (I stopped him). The slow shutter speed is really a pain plus the macro focus range at 6cm, I was keen to move on. I can deal with the latter but not the extremely slow response. Sometimes, I find myself clicking on the button but it doesn't take any picture. There are some manual functions which I'd changed but still, I find it too slow to respond. I do like the image quality though. So other than wanting to save some money, this is the only other reason that made me keep the camera. Until now.

I used to be a big Sony fan and still am. But I'm going to switch to Canon this time. I want to get something that is more than a point-and-shoot camera but a level below DSLR. My sister's boyfriend had told me Sony products are overpriced and I'd read reviews of Canon cameras. I like the G9 but I think I probably won't use much of the manual functions. So now, I'm eyeing on a model whose specifications are rather similar to that of G9 except that it has no raw format support which doesn't bother me - Powershot A650 IS. I like that the LCD can be flipped and twisted. Make it easy for those funny and awkward angle shots. There are, however, mixed reviews about the image quality of this camera though. I want something that gives me good quality pictures and I dislike noise. So far, I'm not entirely happy with the sample pictures I see.

Another shortlisted model is the S5. It seems to be a great overall but a snag is the lens cap comes off very easily. Like my sister says, one can't get a perfect camera which I totally agree. But the more research I do and the more reviews I read, the more confused I become. Anyone has any suggestions to offer?