Ditch the hood, useless. The 4GB card, forget the price, they just say like that to convince you. Filter too.

Try to bargain down to about 2.6k-2.7k. And get a bag.
Sounds too good to be true.
Both are equally good though some claim the 95 is better. Go test both out and see which one is most convenient to you (easy settings, etc)

Both are worth the price, if you get what I mean la. I couldn't get stock for Crumpler 7MDH for 2 months, got fed up, got a Bagman.
Yes filter is to prevent damage to lenses. Also blocks out UV rays but considered 'obsolete' now so primarily protects the lens from dust and scratches.

Hood is useless. I can bet you they'll give you a cheap petal hood which interferes with the lens (at 18mm severe vignetting is seen).

I wouldn't know about the duty free thing in airports though. Sorry about that one, can't help.

i bought at that price...turns out shud be 50-70 only heheh

class 2 memory card is enough unless u got a faster camera.

I'd say SX120 if you're really interested in learning manual, 100 IS if you just want a casual. The 120 is expensive, the FP8 also over a bit (but a good choice nevertheless), w350 isn't that good, and the Samsung...

Don't get it. Trust me you won't like seeing your face being horribl-ized by that camera. It is seriously lacking on the image quality side.
S90 is a good choice, if you don't want a DSLR.

Yes, Live View means you're seeing the 'picture' on the LCD. Comes in handy when you can't put your face to the viewfinder (concerts, etc).

Both Canon and Nikon support Live View.

Also, D90 performs much better than the 550D. What do you expect? Intermediate against an entry-level WITH VIDEO. I'm not trying to insult or anything but it's kinda obvious that these mid-range cameras are just low-level ones with video. Hell it isn't even Full HD video.

Just go for the D90, you'll make up for it later while learning. If not then you're safe to go with the S90.
I'm a Sony fan too (I have 2 Vaio's, planning for another one, Bravia's in the house) but I have to let my case down on this though, Sony DSLRs just don't seem to appeal much. I don't know what they can boast about, unlike C and N.

Now, I shall elaborate a little on pros and cons.

Sony gives two lenses (18-70 and 55-200, if I'm not mistaken). - These two lenses are the cheapest, and the worst. Sorry to say I just despise both these lenses. Secondly, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Cheap doesn't necessarily mean good, although it might seem to be. And lastly, HD video isn't really important anyway.

Nikon on the other hand. The price justifies the quality.

It's up to you, so, yeah. Good luck making your decision.