It became a reflex for me to try to time the point of exposure.
It was fun and I still think a P&S can get shots SLR's can't.
There's no lag with my present EOS 50D. Plus you can do a burst of exposures. But there are trade offs in image quality in that setting.
I rarely use my auto-focus setting on the SLR but there are times i'ts a handy tool.