I've had good experience with Nikon's... the current 4600 is a good pick for you... uses a SD card for storage and has great battery life, you can also use lots of different battery types:

Power Requirements:Two EN-MH1 Rechargeable batteries, two LR6 (AA-size alkaline) batteries, two ZR6 (AA-size nickel manganese) batteries, two FR6 (AA-size lithium) batteries

Has digital and optical zoom, is light, nice screen... I think you'd like it...