I was told when I bought my digital camera to buy at least 4 or more megapixels and the higher the optical zoom number the better.
The megapixels means how clear the pictures are and the zoom means how close you can get from far away.
So if you can get another digital camera with higher pixels and higher zoom for this same price or similiar that is the one I would buy.
I bought a Kodak EasyShare with 5.1 pixels and 12x optical zoom because of that information.
But if all of the pictures you will be taking will be up close, don't worry about it and buy that one.
Hope this helps.
Scout