I'll put my 2 cents worth in here.
I've got a Fujifilm FinePix that I got a few years ago. I can change how good the picture is by how many pixels are used. The better the picture the fewer pictures that can be saved on the card. It's got a view finder as well as the LCD Screen. The one thing about having just an LCD screen is that it's hard to see in the sun. Unfortunately I think the new ones don't have the view finder. It's just got 4 megapixels, which was good for a few years ago. And I really like the zoom. 3x zoom works pretty good, but I'd like to have a bit more X's. Hmmmm, I may have to get a new camera too. Darn! Actually, I really like this one. It takes great pictures.
It's got AA batteries, which I like because I can get them anywhere. And I have a little reader separate from the camera that I can download the pictures to the computer.
I went with a friend before Christmas and helped pick out a camera. Ended up getting a Kodak. I can't remember exactly which one, but it seemed to be good. It was one of the few that had a view finder besides the LCD Screen. Around $200.
