I have been researching and reading reviews on cameras for awhile now since I wanted a new one. The Fuji S7000 gets terrible reviews for its image quality and high noise levels and that Kodak only has limited manual controls. If you absolutley need a Hotshoe, you need to go with one of these "prosumer" cameras and you will pay more like $400-$500. The 2 best cameras in this market according to professional and user reviews is the Minolta A1 which you can pick up between $500-$600 and the Olympus Camedia C-5060 Wide which is between $400-$500, both have more manual controls than you will ever need and get very good reviews. The Minolta has an "anti-shake" feature which gets rave reviews for making sure you never get blurry pics in low light ever again. Not to mention its incredible 7x zoom lens which gives you a 28-200mm range. Here is a link to each.
Minolta A1
Olympus 5060