Tony... you seem to be a very smart chap... please sell me on the S110. The only real reason I want the S300 so bad is for the 3x optical zoom.

Correct, the primary advantage of the 300 is the better optical zoom. Functionally, there are no other differences I can see other than that the 300 lays out its buttons a bit differently. But the software seems to be almost identical and produces the same results with the same feature set.

My choice for the 110 over the 300 is size. The 110 is significantly smaller than the 300 (and the 300 is already pretty darn small). The reason I wanted a 300/110 is that the camera was so small, I knew I would be more likely to be carrying it when a photo opportunity arose. Since the 3x zoom was not high on my list of priorities, but size was at the top of the list, I chose the 110. When Loren showed me his 300, I was glad I made the choice.

My feeling is that this camera is for quick/easy snaps, not for serious photography. It doesn't even have a manual focus. If the zoom were important to me, then other professional features such as manual focus would also be important to me. They're not, hence my preference for the 110.