Samsung TL240

There is an ongoing balancing act in compact camera design, with the desire to keep the body size small competing for real estate with buttons and dials that can be controlled comfortably. In this touch-screen camera, Samsung nearly banishes buttons entirely, devoting the entire camera back to a good-looking 3.5-inch LCD. As touch-screen cameras go, we think they did a good job with the interface design -- individual on-screen choices are large enough that you don't need pinpoint precision to hit them, and the screen on the pre-production unit we tried was nicely responsive to our fingertip prodding. Of course, protruding buttons can be easier and faster to find than icons on a flat surface, and smudging is inevitable when using this camera. As someone once said, you pays your many, you makes your choices. And for now, how much money is required is an open question.