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High tech advances usually show up on the lower priced cameras a few years after they come out on the expensive ones. Nikon's now up to well over 20,000 ISO for their new full-frame camera, and in a few years we're likely to see this on P&S cameras. At the 6000 ISO speed, there's not much noise/grain.
Something more important (maybe) to consider is "shutter lag". If you press the button and the camera doesn't actually take the photo until after a long delay, you'll find that frustrating - at least I do.
My only experience with the Panasonic Lumix P&S was all good - nice camera, well laid out, easy to use (for a beginner), and it created very nice images. I never got to try it with low light levels.
As to battery life, much of that depends on the use of the image-review screen, and on how often you use the flash. Both will shorten the battery life. It's usually a good idea to get a second battery "just in case".
My only other suggestion (which usually falls on deaf ears) is to read the manual. Most people don't, and aren't aware of how to use all the neat features that come with many of these cameras. I've read the manual that came with my own camera two or three times (on long airplane flights) and often find something I missed earlier, and wasn't aware of. Most people (well, many people) don't - you check out their camera, and find the "date" function is still set to the country the camera was made in... :-)
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