Casual photo equipment question (spouse wants zoom!)

[poodlesrule]

Spouse, a point-and-shoot photographer, is looking for a new unit, wants zooming ability, for candid shots and the like.. and is a four-minute shopper ("oh, let's get this!").

I am telling her to slow down and consider:

- balancing portability with zoom performance, i.e., if camera is too bulky, you don't have it handy... no shot!

- paying attention to where optical zoom ends and digital zooming kicks in (if I understand the process correctly)

- looking at a small digicam, and use it for still shots as needed


I would like to hear your thoughts on this!
She is just about to leave the 9-to-5 work life, so new camera could be a sizable gift to herself...