Olivia,

You explained it perfectly! When you have digital zoom the megapixels really do matter.

Laurie,

I just had a friend get the Canon A510 (Now replaced by the A610). You might find some closeouts on the 510. She is not a photo person, and she took it to Europe, did lots of snapshots and used it over the holidays everywhere she went - she can't stop raving about that camera. It uses AA batteries (you can buy rechargables with a charger) or what else I like is if you forgot to recharge, you can buy those batteries anywhere and not be powerless! It would do exactly what you like and it's very highly rated.

I am going to get a Digital Elph 550 for snapshots sometime before my next cruise, just for sheer size, quality, and all those features that I like when I don't want to schlep my Digital SLR all the lenses and tripod for some serious photography. ;)