Most people do not know much about Digital Cameras so they buy based off brand or price. So this is my best input for you, since 99% of the idiots in the stores dont know anything that is not written on the box.
So here are the basics.
1. MP = Mega Pixel this is how fine a picture it can take this is first and formost but also the higher is not always better il explain later.
2. Optical Zoom - this is more important then most poeple relisse, the problem is store people always try to sell you on the digital zoom. So let me explain digital zoom.
Digital zoom is software created zoom of what it sees, and no matter how high it is, if the MP of the camera is low enough, then well yoru picture will pixilate very quickly. Pixilation is when the picture looks like lots of tiny dots and not a picture at all. However you must relise even the highest MP cameras can not stop this process when using digital zoom, because its effectivly guessing when using the digital. So always get the highest optical you can.
3. comes to the camera company which you prefer and like
4. comes to the type of media it uses, i do not ever recomend disks IE dvd or cd ... these take to long to save, and you can not delete from them. Think about it like this, Your out taking 100+ shots your disk is full you dont have room or a disk. you have to stop. But if you have a media card its full wel you can then stop, look thru find a blurry or duplicated shot, delete it and move on.
5. type of media - this use to be seomthing to concider ,but these days they are all within a few dollars of one another, so here you just worrry about the quality of media you do buy for your camera. take note.... always have 2, because the cards can sometimes mess up losing pictures, never ever fill a card, always stop about 3/4 full and switch to the other card, and remove them as soon as possible to a pc and back them up.
Anyways there ya go just a few things to concider i could go on long but this is where we end it for now. I will recap the important things now.
1. MP higher better
2. Optical zoom not digital zoom
3. type of media stay away from dvd/cd
Last note MP also has a limit, i can take with my 8mp camera 12x14 inch images and have them look just as good as a 10mp cameras you can base the mp off the biggest size you plan to print. this will help you save money on the camera, and be able to buy a better quality one with more features.
