I just recently bought a Nikon 995 and have used a Nikon 990 for a couple of years at work.
I opted for the Nikon 995 over the Nikon 775 and others because I just really prefer the cameras that allow me to control everything manually if I want (or need) to. I've shot lots of film cameras, from point-and-shoots to Canon EOS 1N's, to Nikon F5's, to 4"x5" studio cameras, and from tricky sunset shots to backlit shots, you can't beat a camera that lets you shoot full manual if you want to... but, if you don't need it, and if the smaller size is important to you, go with the 775 or one of the Canons. I've been doing lots of studio shots of tackle and such for the SU site, so I knew I was going to need a manual camera to get good results doing those.

I will say I got the 995 with a 16MB card, a 64MB card, two big lithium batteries, charger, case, cables, etc., for $500. Oh, and like someone else mentioned, get a card reader, they sure are handy.

-N.