I think in picking a digital camera you have to be really honest about what your going to use it for. When picking film cameras, most people are satisfied with instant cameras, but when choosing a digital, they go out and buy something really exotic. For me, I only send pics to people on the internet or save them on the disc. Gone are the days when you have print photos that you put in a photoalbum. So 1 megapixel is more than enough for the highest resolutions and large size you have on a pc screen. If you really think that your going to use photos to frame and put on a wall or something, then you should go 3 megapixel. Since taking photos with a digital cam is almost free, it makes using high end photography more accessable to what it was before, so if your willing to learn, an SLR might not be bad idea.