Need guidance on which camera to buy.

Hey guys I've been wanting a digital camera for the longest and now that i have enough cash i can get one. I've been doing research on two cameras that i have narrowed it down to. They are both from canon the models are sx210 IS, and Powershot sd 4000 IS. Like i said i've done research and the reason i want the sx210 IS is because it has 14x's optical zoom which helps because i would like to take some photos from my 24th floor apartment. But the new sd 4000 is more for low light pictures and has super slow motion video capturing. Either way i don't which to pick i want the sx210 IS but i heard that it has shadows in its pictures because of the barrel lens or whatever it's called and i don't want to pay a lot of money for that mistake though some people don't complain about it on some reviews i have read. The sd 4000 is just 3.8 optical zoom but seems like a nice camera.
Sorry for the rant i would just like your opinion because i have read the reviews and i can't really understand some stuff like af something to do with shutter lens speed but still don't know how that effects stuff.
so yeah sorry for the long post just want to get some input since i see the sx210 IS is on sale for 20 dollars less.
Here are some links i've been too.
Canon introduces PowerShot SX210 IS: Digital Photography Review
Canon IXUS 300 HS Review | PhotographyBLOG
If you guys know of a good camera with nice zoom and decent megapixels and Hd video shooting let me know im open to suggestions i was looking at the sony tx7 but i really want a camera that has nice optical zoom with good quality pics

One thing you can always do when checking out cameras is search flickr - you can search by camera model and bring up all the pictures taken by that model. May tip you in one direction or the other.

Yeah thats a good idea. I went and did that and saw the pictures are good but idk which ones have been edited and which are just straight from the camera. Regardless i guess i'll just take a chance and maybe get it before the day is done online. Sale ends today so i got the whole day i guess to try and scope more info out

Searching Flickr is good, but the thing is if you know how to use a camera, by use I mean get the best out of it.. You can find some terrible rated cameras people are using on Flickr and getting amazing results with.

You can take great photos with absolutely any camera, its all about figuring it out.

Personally, I've never been able to stand compact cameras, there's just.. I don't know.