Sony V1 or Canon S1 IS?

[Griffon]

Greetings,
This is my first post in the Sony forum..I'm trying to decide which digital camera to buy: The Sony V1, the Canon S1 IS, or (if better) a Canon A 80.
I'm going to use the camera for taking general, casual photos, in fact I want to start a photographing hobby. So, well, I think I may have to take pics in low light too (for example, when I go to restaurants or other indoor places with my friends..or perhaps a city night shot, illuminated by a streetlight.
Initially I was thinking about the T1, but decided that I want something with more manual controls.. Perhaps I'd better wrtie the reasons for each one I want to buy:
Sony V1: This is the most advanced of the three. The only reason I have second thoughts about this is the battery life and the dependance on Memory Stick.
Canon S1: 10x zoom and image stabilisor (sp?) are really cool sounding features, and I'm sure I would enjoy them..However, the S1's low-ligt capabilities are not exactly top-of-the-line; and the viewfinders freeze when autofocusing (I'm not going to try to take a pic of someone swinging a fist at me, but well, I think I will have to take pics of moderate-speed moving objects.). I'm not that worried about 3 MP, but I've read that it has some red-eye problems, and a bit of purple fringing.
The A 80 is, well, kinda a mix between the two; better at low light than S1 but worse than V1, 4 MP, has 3x zoom..It gets top reviews in digital camera reviews in Turkey, but to be honest, I don't like the way it looks.
Ok, and about looks.. I'm not going to try to impress people with a digital camera ( :roll: ) but, well, I actually care about how it looks, since I will carry it around a lot. I ilke the way the S1 looks the best, but I'm wondering if this justifies buying it.
I'm going to have a friend in US buy it for me, so the S1 and V1 cost about 500 $ while the A 80 is 400 $. I can afford both.
Thanks in advance for your help.
-Onur Otlu