Do you not have a Best Buy? Wolf Camera? Or Ritz Camera? I REALLY like my Nikon Coolpix. In general, Nikon has the best quality of output for your buck. They have a few lowend cameras that look like SLRs too, which is better than those bricks.
I've had Canon cameras before though. My 35mm is a Canon SLR.
If you have a specialty camera store nearby, I'd suggest going there. They can most likely do in-house repairs if anything does happen to your cameras. Some even lend one out if they have to ship them to the manufacturer.
My advice is to look at the Flickr Camera Finder first, because those cameras you've mentioned seem to be very high in price for someone who's just starting out.
http://www.flickr.com/cameras/
You can look at the cameras and see what kind of pictures each of them produce.
Good luck!