For the long time I refused to consider P&S cameras as a possible alternative to manual SLR or rangefinder. But when I started taking street snapshots I soon discovered that in most cases the SLR's profile is too high. Most people will treat you as a pro photographer and you will loose the "moment of truth". So recently I acquired couple of P&S cameras. The one is Olympus, presented here, for another see the next entry. I like this one. The name is Olympus MJU II (AKA Olympus Stylus Epic). I never used it on the tripod, this picture is just a joke. It is one of the smallest 35mm cameras ever made, though it has very good 35mm F2.8 glass and reliable active autofocus system. Born to live in the pocket. I already have more then 70 rolls done with this camera. Most of the pictures in my "Walking Downtown" gallery have been taken with this camera. The review is here:

Photo.net Olympus MJU II review

If you need small, reliable and quiet P&S camera, look no further, it is here.
Fanny part: I bought this one for $12 on Ebay. The new will cost you $60 more (was true at the time, oh well...).