Hi just thought I'd answer my own question seeing as you're all so interested!.. It seems that the most intuitive type of in-camera cropping is in the Nikon system .... in this case the Coolpix P80.. which is what I bought. All you need to do is zoom in on playback and choose menu, then crop.
I know this type of proccess is beneath all you guys, but I really think it is a valid function for someone who never has time to sit down at a computer (kids etc) and just drops the camera to the chemist to get the files printed. It was the only thing she really specified as a function she would like... so I'm wondering why more point and shoots don't have this function?
Ros