What a useful tool !

Author's Rating:

Pros: Picture quality, Available features, Li-Ion battery.

Cons: Handling can be awkward...offset tripod mount.

The Bottom Line: 
This is an excellent "everycamera". It can serve as all things to all people, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, with low bulk, light weight, and moderate cost.

Author's Review
Let me begin, by saying that I've read many reviews of this camera already, and believe the technical aspects of it are covered well in several of them, so I see no need to be repetitive. Suffice to say that it exhibits the operating characteristics of a digital camera, though closer to a "real" camera than many.
Therefore I intend to concentrate on the "novice" to "enthusiastic amateur" viewpoint of living with the camera.

Background (Not necessarily relevant, so feel free to ignore if you wish):
I started out an interest in photography when I came back from the Falkland Islands, and found my descriptions of what I'd seen there inadequate. This interest grew, until I was at a semi-professional level, mainly doing social photography.
A change of job saw me traveling extensively worldwide for around 45 weeks of the year,so my side business of photography died. I thought of supplying shots to a commercial library, but with travelling to some less than developed places, carrying a great deal of photographic gear became a burden, and sometimes a liability. Couple this with not being able to see my shots until months later ( I wouldn't trust local processing in Africa, China, the middle East, etc.), and an alternative had to be sought.
I turned to digital. This was in it's infancy then, and unless you wanted to spend obscene amounts of money all that was available were simple "point & shoot" compacts. These were adequate for a computer displayed image, and suited my needs for a record, with immediate availability (I travel with a laptop). As technology has improved,not only have the image quality and features of digital cameras improved, but the imaging processing software available now means that that I can achieve comparable results with minutes to hours on a computer to what used to take me hours to days in a darkroom! And no problems with fume inhalation, or chemical disposal.
I have since married, emigrated to the U.S., and settled. I introduced my wife to digital equipment, and encouraged an interest in photography.

Review:
As a devout 35mm user (I used medium format too, but saw no appreciable quality improvement in most shots 8"x10" or smaller, so went for the usability of 35mm) my crossover to digital was one of necessity (see above), but I have grown to enjoy the ease of use of these items. Doing my own processing, I can now go from concept to print in less time, and with a lot less hassle. I still use film for images precious to me, but for everyday use it's digital all the way!
My wife was never a big photo fan, so I bought her a Canon A20. She loved this, and when she seen what she could do, and how quick & easy it was to do it, she was hooked. In order to teach her more about photography, and further her interest I have this year upgraded her to a G2.
While she thought it seemed to much for her at first, she felt comfortable with the "auto" mode, and could still point and shoot, but is growing into the full range of features, and is gradually using the creative, and manual controls more.
For myself, I can at last feel as though I'm getting back towards SLR capabilities with full control, and being able to use filters, though I find the controls a lot less user friendly than my T-90, or A-1, they are comparable with my T-70.
There is a possibility of switching the shooting mode while going from "still" to "movie" or "play", and if unchecked when returning to shoot could cause a bad shot, or missed shot....and while we're on the subject of gripes, though I love being able to swivel the screen to suit the situation, I don't like having to swing it out every time I use it. I understand that the screen can be protected this way, but it would be considerable easier to use, and wear on the swivel mount would be reduced if you could leave it closed and view it on the rear of the camera...... Also the offset tripod bush is annoying, ruling out the use of a tabletop unit (which could have been very handy with the remote at social functions).
As well as general use, we've used this camera for landscape work, portraiture, close-up(filtered), and technical photography. The picture quality is excellent to 8"x10", and using good quality photo paper with a decent printer, is all but indistinguishable from 35mm to untrained eye.
The battery life is very good, and the fact that it is
non memory forming makes it convenient to keep topped up for extended use.
Accessories I have purchased, and have proven useful, include a spare battery & charger (so we don't have to use the camera to charge the batteries), a CF card reader (so I don't need the camera present to download images), a 256Mb CF card (so I can keep on the highest quality, and still take a decent number of images), and best of all, an adaptor tube, to allow the use of 52mm threaded, and Cokin "A" series filters.
Together with a tripod this is a very competent and versatile camera for all round usage. Obviously specialist subjects can show up it's limitations, but that is true of everything (you wouldn't use the family Camry for a club racer, but that doesn't make it a bad all-round car!). A complete novice can use on full auto, a pro can take complete control, and there are a plethora of points between to be used, or ignored, as required. It's a camera which allows for an expansion of knowledge, capable of outstanding results, and you don't need to pay for processing of your errors!

One final point......Yes, I know I could have got it cheaper by quite a way, but we had our reasons to purchase the way we did.