For a long while I have been recommending my mum to get the Panasonic DMC-FZ7, and now she was finally ready to take the plunge. Of course, when reading up I found that the Canon Powershot S3 IS was out as well and has close to identical features. The differences are: the Canon is twice as heavy, uses AA batteries rather than a propriatery lithium-ion ...

Owen Morse-Brown has made a set of CDs if you want to play duets but have no-one to play with. The series contain Telemann Boismortier sonatas.