I've tried a lot of compact tripods. For the money I don't think you can beat the Slik Sprint Pro EZ:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=slik+sprint+pro+ez&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ps

After this little gem, I believe the next step is to carbon fiber as the other gents have pointed out.

“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery