Sony's lack luster is still class leading (Updated photo inconvenience)

I bought this camera at Circuit City around early August. I was looking for a digital camera because I was suffering from FDCS (Family Digital Camera Sharing). I hated sharing the camera. I needed to get a camera that could take 5 megapixel pictures or more so great pictures.
I was walking with my friends through the Queens Center mall as we were walking through CirCuitCity, Cara needed a new charger for her I-pod so I looked around the place and I saw this camera and looked at all the specs. I have a memory stick Duo that can fit in here because I have a PSP. So I said why should I not buy it. So as soon as I we walked out of the mall and went home I literally tore the box open. The package consisted of software, cables, memory stick adapter, Sony DSC-S500, two double A batteries, a wrist Strap, AV cable, Owner's manual, and a warranty agreement paper.
After putting in the wrist strap, and batteries, I noticed that I did not need to use a memory stick because there are integrated memories good for 160 VGA pictures and 20-6 megapixel pictures. The camera itself is very compact it is narrow that my fingers (see my profile to be redirected, click on the photobucket link and click photo #1) are longer than the camera is also quite thin, the camera is so compact that it is no bigger than a bar of soap (see my profile to be redirected, click on the photobucket link and click photo #2)I can actually fit this camera in my pocket with lots of room left for my wallet and chapstick. This is very convenient if you like to take vivid, crisp, and clear pictures in a small package.

PERFORMANCE
When it comes to Picture quality, this is Sony's lackluster yet it is class leading as for it goes against the FujiFilm FinePix A400, Nikon CoolPix L3, and the Canon Powershot A530. All of my friends have these cameras and yet mine takes the most beautiful pictures. Zameena's camera the FujiFilm FinePix A400 is the closest to mine in the quality. One Example of a regular picture that the DSC-S500 takes is shown below
(see my profile to be redirected, click on the photobucket link and click photo #3)vs. Carie's camera which didn't do so well. (see my profile to be redirected, click on the photobucket link and click photo #4) Please note that I named this review "Sony's lack luster is still class leading" because it is Sony's cheapest camera yet. This is because it lacks the Carl-Zeiss/ Vario-Tessar lens that Sony’s usually have. Sony makes these lens and yet it still has quality to that of the Sony DSC-W5.(see my profile to be redirected, click on the photobucket link and click photo #5)That is amazing. There is no real image processing but it does do well as for it compresses the pixels for better quality. Now I would like to see the DSC-S500 have the Carl Zeiss/Vario Tessar lens, but these lenses hold for themselves. When properly equipped with a 1 GB Memory Stick Duo the DSC-S500 can take up to 6000 VGA pictures and about 875-6 megapixel pictures. This is very good considering I like to take big pictures. There are 5 different ISO (sensitivity) modes on the camera, Auto, 80, 100, 200, and 400. In 100&400 mode the flash is quite noisy. This camera also has MultiBurst mode. This means that the camera is capable of taking multiple pictures at once. I find this useful because I don’t like waiting for the image to be processed and then take another picture, by that time the moment has ended. That is one of the reasons that made me happy, because I wanted to take a lot of pictures for my cousins wedding. Even in multi burst there's no difference in the processing time than taking one picture.
There is a mode selector on the camera which is great because you can take pictures practically under any condition, there's sun mode, moon mode, beach mode, candle mode, high-contrast mode, and one person focus mode. This helps me because taking pictures are no longer a guessing game.
The battery life on this camera is quite long. With regular Duracell batteries, I can take 157 pictures with a 3 second interval between each picture. This is awesome because I take lots and lots of pictures, preferably 1-3 hundred every 2 weeks.

DISLIKES
One thing that I don't really like which is one major flaw with all Sony cameras, is that there is no image stabilization. This does of course lead to some shaky pictures, so this means you have to hold it taut.
Flash is one of the weaknesses here because the flash isn't to strong, it only has an effective distance of 2 feet. This means that I can't take pictures from a distance at night. I do wish the flash was a great as or better than its successor the S600 which I used to have. What helps is the moon mode or the focus on one person mode.
One part of the Camera as with the rest of Sony's line is the zoom. It probably wasn't one of Sony's focal areas but they need to take their cameras back to the drawing board because I need better zoom as for I like to take far away pictures or pictures of planes and play a game of "Guess that Plane" with my friends. The DSC-S500 is shy when it comes to zoom because it is only 3x optical and digital.

DURABILITY

When it comes to durability the DSC-S500 is a solid performer. I have dropped the camera about 3 times so far from a height of around 2-3 feet and it still works but that was on a quite stiff and brittle rug I don't want to say anything about dropping it on hard flooring as for I don't want that to happen.
If I forget to use the case and leave it in my pocket, the lint and debris in my pocket doesn't jam the lens muscle which is a good thing.
The screen is also scratch resistant because I had put it in my beach bag which had a smunched piece of aluminum foil rubbing at the screen when I went to Grace's beach party and there aren't any scratches. This I find great because accidents do happen as supposed to 70-85% of accidents are unavoidable.

VALUE

The Sony DSC-S500 is the best in its class. Thus this is Sony's worst; it is still class leading with razor sharp performance, great battery life, durability and superior crisp pictures in the bunch. If you either like taking simple and mundane pictures, or whether you want to take near expensive pictures then your perfect camera is this one. At $179 the DSC-S500 should sell for hundreds more. Nobody wants to pay more for something than they are supposed to so in this case; you have met your match.