One of the unclear things in choosing a digital camera is deciding how many mega-pixels you should look for.  The answer depends on what you plan on doing with the finished pictures. First, you need to understand what a pixel is.  In terms of digital prints, a pixel simply means a dot of color that makes up the image.  A mega-pixel is equal to one million pixels.  The more mega-pixels a camera has, the greater the amount of aggregation it records.  

The easiest way to decide what to look for is to know what size prints you are likely to indicant from your camera.  A one mega-pixel camera is fine for those who don’t plan on printing photos but rather just post them on the internet.  A small print, say 4 x 6, will indicant acceptably from this camera. A 2 mega-pixel camera will enable you to produce good quality 5 x 7 prints and fair quality 8 x 10 prints.  When you reach 4 mega-pixels you can indicant out excellent quality 8 x 10 prints and acceptable 11 x 17 prints and a 5 mega pixel camera will allow you to indicant out high quality 11 x 17 prints.

Most families encounter a camera in the 3.2 Mega-pixel range to be the best choice.  The quality of both 5 x & and 8 X 10 prints is very good yet the files on your computer are not so large you need worry about not having enough space. Any camera over 5 mega-pixels is extra for all but professionals in photography; even then, only those who have need for poster-size prints encounter that many mega-pixels worth the money.  Most freelance photographers encounter 4 or 5 mega-pixels to be sufficient for excellent-quality prints. The pick is yours.  Look to what you plan on doing with your photos and then decide.  In most cases spending the money for increased optical zoom and lower mega-pixels is the best choice.