with a brand name recognized in cameras. Brand names that can be trusted are Nikon, Olympus, and Canon to name a few. My camera of choice is Nikon and I will probably never waiver from that choice. Of course, these name brands are going to be more expensive especially with the newest models. Nikon was in on digital almost at the very beginning; so, they are hard to beat, now.
Anyone first buying a camera now is very lucky because prices have come down quite a bit like plasma TV and flat screen monitors. This opens the door to get a better camera that would have been extremely expensive 2 to 3 years ago.
I would never start lower then 3 megapixel, now especially if you plan on doing any hard copy prints. 5 megapixel cameras were $1200 and higher less then a year ago and now you can get a name brand in the $600s. Nikon 5700 Coolpix camera had excellent ratings all along and it's still holding it's own. I'm sure others can share their choices. Nikon now has a point and shoot that's an 8 megapixel called the 8700 Coolpix. This is costing around $999 retail, right now. This model looks very close to the 5700 only it has more megapixels. What's nice about the higher end point and shot cameras is that you can buy a few lenses as additional acessories; so, you can pretty well be covered for all circumstances.
There are digital cameras on the very high end that can be retrofitted with most all the lenses available for 35mm camaras. These cameras are usually not for the amateur and they can easily set you back at least $2000 and can go up to $14000 for the professional ones, if not more.
This is the first year by the way that digital cameras have sold more then a regular 35mm camera. Digital cameras will take over in the long run as a camera of choice in the future for amateurs and and even above to the quasi-pro.
I think it's a wonderful time to get a digital camera if you haven't taken the plunge yet.