Maybe I'm nuts, but how does the Fuji Finepix E550 sound?

[Deja Q]

For 6.3 MP with a customized CCD, and at $299 after a lot of rebates, I am actually considering the camera.

Not sure why... but I am. Maybe because it's fast, is 6.3MP, and lightweight. And because I could print fully detailed 11x14" pics (my current Sony Mavica starts showing annoying pixelization at 11x14")

I gather that it has a tendency to overcompress though.

What do y'all think? Is the E550 a good value? (I thought of the Kodak DX7630, 6MP for $350, but had read that the pics were considerably grainy and the overall quality was closer to 4x).

The Olympus C7000 and Canon G6 are nice (especially the G6) but cost waaaaaaaaaay too much, and the Olympus model has a very annoying barrel distortion effect at any zoom setting. :puke:

Or should I really wait and buy a parrot for the same amount of money? :D