Fujifilm FinePix F480 Zoom

Opinion: I own both a S6000fd and an F20, both Fujifilm Super CCD 6.3 megapixel cameras and am delighted with both. I'm glad I bought both while they were still readily available. I was very interested in getting a small wide angle camera and so was very intrigued by the F480's 28 mm lens and its large LCD display. Very nice package, small, nice build--a good looking camera at a very nice price. When I compared the pictures to the F20 however I was very disappointed. I took a number of outdoor shots with both cameras at identical ISOs and white balance settings, and out of seven photos, the F20 was a clear winner, with one closeup a tie. The F480s shots were generally darker and blurrier than the F20, in spite of the additional megapixels. I have now learned first hand how over rated pixel counts are. Some of the F20's shots were WAY sharper than the F480, not to mention brighter and with less noise.
I would really like to see the megapixel race end and see Fujifilm (and other manufacturers) to stop sacrificing image quality for more and more pixels that very few consumers actually need. I know that there are engineering issues with needing a small chip to have such a tiny lens as this, so why not put a better-performing 5 or 6 megapixel Super CCD into this camera, instead of whatever it is that they did? I know that is heresy, but I would buy that camera with fewer pixels if it gave me the same quality shots as the F20! Every review I read remarks on the declines in image quality due to ever-increasing megapixel counts, both in Fujifilm and Canon cameras. Now everyone seems to want to get an F20 or F31 again but it's too late--people are hawking them for $500 online because they know that a lot of people want to go back to the quality of these cameras from a time before manufacturers went too far with the megapixel madness.
I am (or was) a Fujifilm brand-loyalist, but I probably won't buy another until I hear of a new camera (with wide angle please) with similar image quality to the earlier F series cameras.

Opinion: Good for Zoom Wide, Optical Zoom and Effective pixels.

Opinion: I have a Powershot A95 Canon and I got the F-480 as Christmas present. I'm very disappointed for its performance. Very poor image quality, noise up to 200, weak flash, exposure controll non-existent.
The only tolerable pictures are at 100 ISO bright daylight.
It is an "entry level" camera for beginners.

Opinion: I use this as a carry everywhere camera for my real estate work. It's smaller than any 35mm camera I ever had. It's bigger than the minox I don't use anymore, but the quality is a lot better. I need a 28mm wide angle for good interior picutres. I post pictures at 2 megapixels max. I don't even need the 8 megapixels for prints. I get good 8 x 10s with 4 megapixels.