I've found this site to be pretty useful, as far as digital cameras:
http://www.dpreview.com/
This allows you to compare sample images taken with different cameras (although the images aren't exactly the same).
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
IMHO, these might be good choices for the < $250 range.
Canon Powershot S1 1S $239
http://www.royalcamera.com/canpows1is.html
Canon Powershot A75 $160
http://www.royalcamera.com/canpowa75.html
Nikon also has a good reputation, but I don't know much about their products.
If you were on a higher budget, I've heard good things about the Canon G6. VIP Camera has that for $429.
http://vipcamera.com/product.asp?id=cnpsg6
As far as money issues, buying rechargeable batteries is definitely worth it (and better for the environment too). Also, CF cards are fairly cheap, and you might want to get one with at least 128M space. I like using a higher resolution than you need to print, because you might want to crop the image. So at least 3MP could be a good thing in a digital camera.