Point and shoot camera

I have the Samsung WB600 - and very recently also bought the WB700.
In its class and for the price (you dont mention a budget), there's very little, if anything at all - that comes even slightly close. It has a huge 18x zoom, excellent WA, looks really good - and the picture quality is excellent....

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/digital-cameras/1286404/samsung-wb700

presuming your niece is a quick-moving young child, the problem is that kids are hard to photograph, especially indoors, as they move quickly and your camera's shutter speeds indoors will be slow.

To be honest there are few bad point&shoots available these days- all of them take decent pictures in good light, and none of them will match the quality of a DSLR.

A key point to consider is that with kids, you want a fast shutter time and as such, you need a fast lens. Only a few P&S have a fast lens. The one that comes to mind is the Canon S90/95/100 which has a lens with an aperture of f/2, and a bigger sensor. Both of which means it will take faster pictures than any other P&S.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/a-love-letter-to-a-camera/#more-3063
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/technology/personaltech/3-small-cameras-come-up-big-in-photo-quality.html?pagewanted=all

DO NOT GET A SAMSUNG. Oh dear lord no.

If you want a safe bet get something like the Canon Ixus 220HS. It's cheap, small, point-and-shoot with an average zoom (5x) great in low light and good stablizer.

If you want something with a bigger zoom read this group review:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q311TravelZoomGroupTest/

The basically compare all the small-body big-zoom cameras...

Note that the Samsung that battybilly recommends is an older (yet higher-level) camera than the WB210 that they compare...but it has 50% more zoom, so 50% more camera shake.

Please note that I work in a camera store, so I have also had personally experience with each of these cameras. I bought the older version of the Ixus 220HS (the Ixus 130is) for my mother.

Thanks for the comments and ideas so far.

A huge zoom would only be a plus but I fear most pics would be blurry.

Improved possibility of getting a non-blurry picture is the most important thing. Fast start up, image stabiliser and a camera that truly works as a point and shoot (ie does the best it can with iso etc).

The Canon S95 or S100 sounds good!

Oh dear....*3.
The Samsung WB700 is a brand new model. Not sure where you're getting your comments from, but it's not an older camera.
As for camera shake, ever heard of a tripod?
Canon compacts?.... They're OK - but way overpriced and very under performing for the vast extra cost. this has been noted in just about every pro-review on them. They lack the toys that other models have on board, which are much kinder on the pocket - too.
No offence intended - but I prefer to go with reviews of what the professionals say, rather than someone who works in a shop.
Incidentally, any expert will tell you - photo correction programmes are the way forward nowadays, to get the pictures as near to perfect as possible - not the camera or its lens.

I looked at the reviews for the S100 and they are very mixed. Mixed enough that for the prices - it's too much.

So I've been flicking between sites are reviews and this review from cnet made me look some other cameras reviewed there and of those the Nikon Cookpix P300 stood out because it had a faster start up(almost a whole second) than the Canon S95 and is used as the budget version for those who can't afford the S95. To be honest I don't know what mum's budget is though.

Here is the side by side comparison between the S95 and the P300.

Feel free to throw others comparable cameras into the mix. I want her to have a great one!

I'm not a patriot of Samsung - nor would I recommend it just because I have two of their models, if the results weren't excellent - even before touch-up.
There is also an excellent new Olympus P&S just out - The SP-610UZ.
In UK money - it retails at around £150 and has 3D as well. Nice looking bit of kit - too.

@battybilly: Ummm I would classify a camera that has been replaced as "old", and since the WB750 came out three months ago to replace the WB700, the 700 is definitely "old"

Definitely not a brand new model.

On the other hand - no actual professional would ever say that post-processing is more important than the actual camera and the lens...that is a ridiculous idea. Any benefit post processing might have on a bad photo from a bad camera, it will also have on a good photo from a good camera, therefor the good photo from the good camera is still better.

(Which is irrelevant anyway since I doubt OP's Mum wants to edit every image she takes to make them decent)

90% of professionals will recommend Canon as a compact camera - even those professionals who use Nikon SLRs. The other 10% generally recommend Panasonic. I say "90%" although it's probably a bigger percentage than that.

Even Ken Rockwell who is in generally really annoying and biased towards Nikon & Leica (and seems to hate Canon SLRs) recommends all Canon cameras for his compact camera recommendations.

I don't know about your location, but here in Australia Canon cameras are actually cheaper than many of their contemporaries, not so much for compacts but particularly in SLRs.

E.g. Samsung 750 vs Canon sx230hs

Aus Prices:
$499 vs $399

or US prices:
$279 vs $199

And a tripod? Are you serious? How does that help OPs Mum? Tell her to carry a tripod and set that up each time she wants to capture her niece who won't sit still?

OP - I would recommend you go into your local Ted's/Camera House/Michaels/etc (i notice you checked cnet AU) and ask to have a look at the cameras you are interested in. Take an SD card to put in and take some test shots so you can then check the results at home. Do zoom in on cameras like the sx230hs, Samsung WB750, etc and see how shaky it is, and consider that your Mum will probably be shakier.

PS - I'm not saying Canon's compacts are always better. You really should compare two individual models to each other. But Canon is a safe bet. The other brands might give you more "features" (ie more zoom, GPS, 3D, etc) but the Canon will generally give you better image quality.

Also, as far as those higher end cameras - the S95 is great, and I have hardly noticed any "slowness" or delay. Right now the best in that class though is the Olympus XZ-1, until the S100 actually becomes readily available and I get first hand experience, I'm not willing to pass judgement.

Ummm I would classify a camera that has been replaced as "old", and since the WB750 came out three months ago to replace the WB700, the 700 is definitely "old" Definitely not a brand new model

That maybe very well be so - in Australia shops, but not in The UK.
The WB700 is a newly launched camera here - maybe just 4-6 weeks ago.

Tell her to carry a tripod

Does your shop not sell pocket tripods? No need to carry one.

I rest my case.... T.T. case that is - not camera case

:-)