Jumping on the "recommend" bandwagon ...

Must have: view finder, easy to use (power on, click = high quality photo)
Would be nice: wide angle, compact

Seems to despise the screens on digital cameras. Never got used to it, can't teach an old dog new tricks, blah, blah, blah (wait, did I just call my mother an old dog?). Really just needs something for family shots. She'll never do photography as a hobby. However, if this perfect camera were small enough, went wide enough, and shot good quality then I could borrow it for short travels as a backup/discreet alternative to whatever Nikon D# I'm using at the time.

I'm stuck on a D40 or the Ricoh GX100. Close 3rd would be the Canon G9. My thoughts:

She'll probably take 50 photos max a year. She must be absolutely comfortable with it. It's got to be crazy easy to use. There are probably 20 of these cameras on the market (I really don't know, I haven't looked), but I've been sticking with devices that I'd consider using myself while traveling. I would love a tiny alternative to a big dSLR.

The D40 is an obvious choice cuz it does take quality shots and I could fit all my lenses. But it's bigger than I would like and I don't see her putting it in her purse to take to the park. The Ricoh really seems like the best choice, but an extra $100 for a viewfinder that supposedly doesn't work well? Still, it's what I'm leaning toward. The G9 has a miniature viewfinder which borders on useless. Also, it doesn't go as wide as I would like (and I don't want to buy that giant extension - defeats the purpose of buying a compact!) but it's much cheaper than the others and has great quality.

Are there other cameras I should be looking at? Probably should just take her to a store and make her try each one ...