I went for the Canon PowerShot A40 - only 2 megapixels, but it has a high quality lens and plenty of useful features including full manual operations, optional extra lenses (wide angle, telephone and close up) 30 sec video clip facility and there is an optional waterproof case.
I have created some good quality prints up to 8 x 6 ins, it is easy to use and best of all, reasonably priced.
InternetComputersDirect of Huddersfield UK do some good deals on the camera with various compactflash cards. I paid £235 for the camera and a 64MB card in June when Jessops were asking around £295 but the price has dropped to around the £210 mark or less at some stores advertising on the net.
The only thing I don't like about the camera is the flash delay. You might have to wait up to 2 secs for the flash to fire, so it is pretty hopeless for action photography in low light conditions. The shutter action is normal in daylight.