Bell & Howell is not the same company as in the olden days. Some one bought the name when the original B&W went bankrupt.
From the looks of the cameras, cheap comes to mind. If you want a reliable camera with support look into Sony (I have two Sonys that have never failed)
Kodak all the way here! and their software - similar to iphoto - but also lets you import small (quicktime) video clips fro your digi. cam works realy well with OS X nearly as well as iphoto! I think its called Easy share or somehting like that! I've had two Kodak digi.cams both have been superb!