Panasonic LUMIX (DMC-FZ200) 12.1 Megapixel Digital Camera @ Abe's of Maine - $464.95

After reading all the mostly negative reviews I would prefer to stay with Abe's of Maine.

Agreed. I went on and read the reviews on Abe's and they are just as bad. Seems like all would call back to confirm your online order and try to upsell you. Many products do not carry USA warranty card, etc. I am sticking with Amazon and alike.

peas said:   1/2.3" MOS sensor should make for decent low-light photos, and the 24x optical zoom is handy. But at this price & size, I'd strongly recommend the Pentax K-01 which has a full-fledged APS-C sensor. The kit w/40mm pancake has been at $315 on & off. It's back up to $400 right now but keep an eye on it, it should drop again.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1251410/

Don't know if everyone posting and looking here realizes it, but the main reason this camera has the high MSRP it has is because its lens is very fast - f/2.8 - across the entire zoom range, even at 24x. Censor size alone will not give you great low light performance - if the lens isn't letting in enough light to begin with, the larger censor's ability to absorb more detail won't make that big of a difference. I've got a Lumix G2 Micro 4/3 interchangeable lens camera with just a kit 14-42 lens (I think something like f/3.5-5.6) and notwithstanding its larger than P&S sized censor, it's useless for any sort of indoor action/sports photography and doesn't perform as well as my wife's Lumix ZS3 compact travelzoom P&S in low light. I'm actually thinking of ditching it and getting an FZ200 instead, as I've not seen the increase in image clarity (and certainly not the lower light performance) that I expected when I bought it, so I might as well get something that will go from 25mm - 600mm equivalent and not have to worry about the lugging around the [damn expensive in this format] extra lenses.