Can anyone explain why this camera is worth ~$75 more than the 1100IS? All I see is a little faster shutter speed and a larger LCD screen, which I don't care about for a compact camera.

This replaces the SD800 which and it's got more metal than the 1100. Also has a wide angle (28mm) lens.

Wide angle. You can fit a lot more into the picture with 870 than you can with 1100. The 1100's more similar to the 850.

Sounds like you just answered your own question.

I believe Wide Angle is like an instant zoomout for a camera. Like if you stand 5 feet away from an object you'll actually see more with this camera than say with the SD1100IS.

However, I did hear with this version the edges are a bit fuzzy, but could be because of other factors.

Whatever the case, I wish there were more manual options on these point and shoots.

#5: you want more manual options? Well, you can run CHDK firmware on this camera(and a lot of the Cannon PowerShot models) to give you a lot more options and features, like RAW picture storage(rather than just JPEG), change the video compression rate, get a live histogram as you're setting up your picture, use faster shutter times, take time-lapse movies, have an on-camera calender, and play games. You can also write your own scripts for it in a BASIC type language, to do things like take a picture when the camera sees movement, or automatically capture pictures of lightning.

here's a page that describes CHDK: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief

CHDK hasn't yet been ported to this PowerShot model, but they're working on it. here's a page where they've posted their progress in getting CHDK to work on the SD870 IS: http://chdk.wikia.com/wik... [Truncated]

Yeah, what #6 says. Modding your CHDK will get you a lot better performance out of yoru Canon.

#6, THANK YOU, I had no idea. Very cool. Stoked.