I saw this thread a couple of times before I remembered that my Fuji S3 does have live view - sort of. It only works for 30 seconds at a time to avoid heating the sensor, it's monochrome only, and you have to go into manual focus to use it.

So no, I don't make much use of it, though it's just possible I might sometime try it for precise manual focus - you can magnify the LCD, if you're quick! And no, it wasn't a factor in my buying decision - in fact, I keep forgetting it's there! (unlike the wide dynamic range!

)