Need mid-level camera suggestions

OK, I am about to make my first digital purchase. I guess I want an
SLR poseur because my next digital will be a Nikon SLR as I have
lenses for it. Looking through ads and some other stuff, I've figured
out that optical zoom is a high priority, so most of the ones I'm
looking at have about 10x. My finances limit me to about 4mp. So far,
it seems the Kodak 6490 is pretty good. But then there's the Olympus
765 too. They both seem about equal in many ways. One is smaller than
the other, which is attractive, but I want strong manual controls for
those artsy shots, and I have the impression (wrongly so, perhaps)
that the smaller the camera, the less manual controls it may have.

I have visited some stores, from Best Buy to Ritz. I have to limit my
purchases to these kinds of stores due to the financing they offer.
Hence, I can't shop via mailorder.

Other cameras I've checked are some Fujis (5100 nice, but doesn't seem
as nice as the others?; the 3100 is almost a nice cheap compromise,
being $100 cheaper than my limit with the others), a Minolta DiMage Z2
(somehow, I don't recall this being as nice as the Kodak), the HP 945
(high MP but I've been told this one is not as good as the others),
Nikon 4800 (seems overrated compared to the others), and I think
that's about it. I know there are a few more, such as the Kyocera
M410R but I haven't seen it yet.

I am curious what some of you would recommend and why? If you can give
good reasons (rather than one like the guy at Best Buy who recommended
the Canon S1 IS as being great and the lack of 4mp won't matter - BS!)
this would be very helpful - thanks!

Diego