The P73 is at least 4 years old. I have the very similar P7 and it's on it's last legs.
As for a new P/S camera, I'd think that most Sony, Panasonic, Fuji, Canon cameras in your budget would easily surpass any photos coming from the P73. The tech has advanced so much in the last 4 years.
I'd suggest a Panasonic TZ-4 (or a TZ-5 if you can stretch the budget) because it's pretty compact and has a nice 10x zoom starting at a wide 28mm. Most P/S cameras only go down to 34 or 38mm.
The Canon digital Elph series are pretty nice too, although it's tough to figure out which one is the latest/greatest as Canon's numbering system is so messy.
If you want more manual controls (which could help with night shots), you might need to go with a slightly bulkier camera. Canon's A-series are pretty decent and they tend to cost less than the Elph's as well.
Most new P/S have decent night shot modes, but it depends on what you're shooting. If you're shooting night "scenes", you'll need a tri-pod any way since the shutter is open longer. If you're looking to shoot people at night, you might need something with a good night portrait mode to help control the flash better. Stick with the bigger names and you can't go wrong.
Also, check out dpreview.com and dcresource.com .... I find these two sites to be the best for ametuers like me.
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