I definitely recommend www.dpreview.com which Rick mentioned above. They have almost every camera out there on their site with comprehensive reviews and previews of new models show up about every week.

I am not sure what is out there in the way of rugged digital cameras. I have two Nikonos film cameras that are almost indestructible-a 3 and a 4. If Nikon made one of those digital, it would be the perfect camera for a lot of purposes. I used to take my Nikonos 3 on film shoots, because it didn't matter if it got wet or banged around while I was working.