After re-reading the original post, I realized he is talking about low light pictures which is an area, P&S cameras do not perform well.
I would suggest nothing less than a beginner DSLR, I noticed the latest Nikon entry level, the D3200 performed well at some very high ISOs. It also has an extremely high resolution, probably exceeding most Professional models.
Of course it starts at around $700.
The old Kodak did fine at night - just kind of big to carry around casually.
My Canon G9 Power Shot, which is basically a point and shoot with many advanced features including different ISO settings, has several "night shot" settings and shoots great scenes at night.