Suggest a camera for under 400 USD

[rak007]

I am looking to buy a new camera soon and want to seek opinions from experts here. I have been a point and shoot camera user and current camera is Panasonic DMC LZ8.
I will try my level best to list down my priorities and requirements so experts here can make me best recommendations

Budget
400 USD is the budget i have decided on for now, but can go a bit more if the camera is worth it.

Size
Compact or a Brdige (between compact and SLR) size is fine with me. Should not be very bulky.

Features:
Decent Megapixels - I know high Mpx does not necessarily mean better pics.
Zoom - Higher the better, current camera has 5X and at zoom end the pics are not that good. So need the pics on zoom end to be good as well.
Good Auto Settings- I am an amateur photographer and have no much knowledge about aperture etc so i prefer to click most pics at Auto settings. But i am ready to learn.
Low Light/Night performance - Camera should give very good pics when clicked at night / low light. Pics of illuminated building or say fireworks (sometimes), night scenery etc. (I have a Vegas trip coming up and need a camera before that).
Wide Angle - So that more of can be fit inside a single frame.
HD Video - Need upto 720p, may never use 1080p even if the camera has the feature.

Camera Use
General use only, landscape, buildings, illuminated night scenery etc.
May never take big prints.

[Andy Stanton]

The top two compact ultrazooms - pocket sized with long zoom lenses - are the Canon SX230 HS and the Sony HX9v. They are both very good all around and produce very good looking photos in good light and pretty good looking photos in low light. The Sony has a slightly longer optical zoom (16x versus 14x) but they both have wide angle lenses.