If weather/shock proofing is important, the Olympus SW790 is the one, for the moment. Less rugged but possibly a little bit better (less noise/grain) and still waterproof is the Pentax W30. Soon Olympus will have a wider lens version (28mm ) with the new SW1030. If you are after image quality, one that I am waiting for is the Fujifilm F100FD (28-140mm,1 1'6" sensor). Another that could be considered is the Sony W170 (28-140mm, possibly the same lens as the Fuji)
For a high quality compact on a smaller budget, you may still be able to find the Fuji F30 or 31, the cleanest image you'll get from a compact.
Franco
BTW, from 38mm to 28mm you gain more than 1/3rd in angle of view.....
All of the "weatherized" compact cameras use the "folded optics" (Konica-Minolta) design. Unfortunately this means an extra prism, small lenses and sensors= relatively poor definition and poor low light performance.
( I use the Pentax WP i...)