Ok, I really need some advice on what camera to take with me to Florida to see the shuttle launch (hopefully) but also for the Everglades, Rocket Park etc. I only have a £100 digital compact atm but was thinking of say £250 for a noob type SLR?

any suggestion would be grateful

You may be lucky and getting a second hand or pre-used camera/lens combo for £250. Sadly, the cheapest new cameras start over the £300 mark.

If you shop about you may find there are some discount codes and cashback deals going on.

You could look at hiring a camera.

If you do a bit of research you may be able to make a big saving by making a purchase in the states. Watch out for warranties though as some of them don't travel well.

If a big zoom is a priority (I guess you're going to be stood quite a way off) then you can get something in the region of 10x-18x optical zoom. I cant vouch for the qulaity of these cameras as I've used none of them but dpreview and the like should have something on them.

Lumix DMC-FZ38
Finepix S2500HD
Cybershot DSC-H20
Powershot SX120IS

Edit
There's also a new Samsung with some new sensor they've developed. Its got something crazy zoom like 24x but its approaching bottom end SLR money AFAIK

The Nikon CoolPix L110 seems to be everything you require.
28-420mm lens. Image Stabilisation. ISO 80 - 6400. f/3.5-5.4.

Mark

Nice find Mark, I'll have a good look at that over the next day or so.