[b]PIXELS , OPTICAL ZOOM , STORAGE TYPE[/b]
Noah,
I'm guessing you probably already purchased a camera by now, but here is my opinion/advice. When you shop around I would focus mainly on these 3 things:
1) PIXELS: In basic terms this is the measure of picture quality/resolution. The more the better, buy the most you are comfortable spending. If you don't think you are interested in actually printing many pictures out for framing/viewing you don't have to spend a ton to get nice pics. If you think you may print enlargements than you will need LOTS of pixels to avoid grainly/poor resolution prints.
2) OPTICAL ZOOM (ex 3x optical zoom): optical zoom is the true zoom; like a zoom on a traditional SLR film camera. When you are looking through the camera before taking the photo it allows you to zoom in and out on your subject. OPPOSED TO DIGITAL ZOOM, digital zoom rating on camera (IMO) means nothing. Digital zoom is zooming in after the photo is taken... while it is on the cameras screen, which is the same thing you can do on your PC when you edit it... it is really just blowing the photo up after it is taken and you lose resolution/picture quality (opposed to optical zoom before snapping photo).
3) STORAGE TYPE: There are various types of media storage available (smartmedia etc.). Be careful about cameras that have a system that is specific to their brand or requires their software to use. You can now buy "CARD READERS" that plug into the PC's USB ports and will read multiple card types (i.e. pretty much any cameras media storage card). They are great, small (fit in a front jeans pocket) and allow you to easily read, share, download etc. pic files. Once you plug them in it just appears like any other drive on you computer and you can quickly review pics and delete/email/save to HD etc. It also allows you to easily to these things on various computers (home, work, lapton, spouse's etc.) - they are CHEAP too. **** Transfer rates (time to upload pics to your PC) are MUCH faster using a card reader than the typical cables from camera to PC - ask/compare transfer speeds when shopping.
Couple other thoughts:
I like ones that use normal batteries (ex AA's). Mine came with rechargeable AA's (w/ charger) which is great, but if I forget the charger or am hunting away from an outlet I can just pack along (or buy) some regular batteries as needed.
The comments about shutter speed and associated frustrations are common and sharged by me. My recollection is that when you start wanting/needing fast shutter speeds and more of the features of traditional quality SLR (35MM) camera the prices go through the roof, best to shop around or get advice from someone far more knowledgable than I for those cameras.
Hope this helps you or someone considering a digital camera.