Well it sounds like you would be happy with a point and shoot and that you would mostly use the Auto setting anyway (most of us do). I have been looking extensively at the Canon Power Shot line A410 and A510 they are both reasonably priced under 200.00. They offer some zoom, but not a ton. Settings for portrait, sports, macro and such, where the camera selects the settings for you. They both have good reviews online. My daughter wants a new camera and prefers its digital, of course "Santa" cannot afford more than $150 this year, due to helping with room and board at college for her. So I think I will watch for a sale on the Canon's. Remember that you will need a SD card for the camera too. I believe these models come with a 16mb card, but in the best resolution thats not many pics at all. Only a dozen I think.
another thing I did was go to google and type in the name of the camera and just read whatever reviews I can get my hands on. dpreview.com also has a great site with all kinds of information on every kind of camera imaginable.
Good luck! and let us know what you decide.