Questions on LX-7

I'm looking for a compact camera to carry when I'm not lugging my D90.

My wife will use it 60% of the time and it's replacing her Canon SD870is. I will take full control of the manual use but my wife will shoot mostly in the Auto modes in jpeg. So my question is how decent are the scene and auto modes and Jpeg quality? My first thought was to buy the Canon s100 or the new s110 but the lens issues scares me to much as I need a camera that will last, the new Sony is just to far out of my price range.

Thanks in advance for any replies..