I took a Canon S2IS on my year tour and it worked awesome. Used AA batteries & SD cards, took mini-movies (with sound). I had add an add on lens adapter for it, which also protected the zoom mechanism.
If I remember correctly, a nice site to compare camera models using the features you are looking for is:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
-Great forums to help further narrow your choices too.