Choosing a digital camera

Hi guys!

I've been looking around to buy a digital camera =).
After much much research and consideration, I am stuck with two different brands : Canon and Sony.  
Canon (Powershot A75, A85 or A95) for it's great quality pictures, extra features and full manual mode.  (and flippable lLCD screen)
Sony (probably DSC-W1) for it's super-fast response time, super compact size and great quality pictures.

Now which would you recommend?  Or would you advise me one other than these?

Whatever you do... DON'T ever get a complimentary Earthlink camera!

Never used or looked at the reviews for either camera.
I would recommend the one that works best for what you want to take pictures of.
Such as if your plants are what you are mainly going to take pictures of, get the camera with the best macro along with the ability to manually set the F-Stop to give you the depth of field you want.

When I bought my camera it was between a Nikon and a Sony. I ended up with the Sony DSC-707. Love this camera for the macros.

That's easy, get the Canon A95. It has the flip-out screen, full manual controls, aperture/shutter priority. The W1 lacks those features. If you want to do anything creative, you'll want the Canon. For just point and shoot, the Sony is nice and small.