dpreview.com has just released results of their group tests for compact digital camera super zoom cameras with zoom ranges 18-20x.
While the Canon SX10 IS (28-560mm range) was joint winner with the Panasonic FZ28 (27-486mm range), the FZ28 was regarded as the camera to take given its smaller size and its HD movie mode, although the Canon has added advantages of having a hot shoe, a better viewfinder, longer range and an articulating LCD screen.
The Olympus SP-565UZ with its 20x zoom was also recommended.
NOTE: the review did not look at the new 25x zooms from Kodak and Olympus.