Camera for Year Abroad in Greenland

[greenjack]

At the end of July I will be leaving for a academic year abroad in Greenland. I hope to travel much and take many pictures. I have been shopping for and researching digital cameras for the past year. I have yet to come to much of any conclusion.

My only real criteria so far is:
Less than $600 street price
compact size
high resolution for nice prints
manual focus and hight optical zoom are also considerations

The powershot s500 is looking nice for most of the criteria, but has no manual controls. Also the A80 and 550 have looked nice.

Any suggestions would be grately appreciated, as I need to order within a few weeks.
Thanks,
Jaxon