Just bought myself a Canon A630 yesterday after a length reviewal process. My previous A70 CCD crapped the bed and the cost just to look at it was nearing a new camera.
Use digital photography review website;
http://www.dpreview.com for professional and user reviews for nearly every camera. Shows sample photos as well, and a handy comparison tool.
I chose the A630 over the A710 IS and S3 IS because of it's larger CCD size. Better for noise in low light shots.