Battery wise, I personally suggest ones that use specially designed slim batteries... they do last longer and less hassle to carry.
Expensive? No. Look around eBay, I can get mine for less than $20(I have 2 extras). Not to mention that those batteries get recharged much faster as well as much longer life span.
I suggest that you consider your main usage purposes.
There're so many aspects to think about if you really want to get what suits you. Here's some of my personal tips:
1) DON'T BE TOO CONCERNED ABOUT THE SIZE OF MEGA-PIXELS
It's not just the MegaPixels that makes a good camera. It's the whole mechanism that matters -including flash, size of CCD, Firmware, Lense etc... That's why those brand-name low MP cameras take better quality pix than chinese-noname high MP cameras.
2)PICTURE / MOVIES
I love taking movies as much as pictures. Some cameras only offer 30sec maximum regardless of memory size. But some let you take movie as long as the memory lasts. FPS matters too. Some only offer 16 Frames Per Second, but some offers 32 FPS which gives you almost camcorder quality movies.
3)RESPONSE TIME MATTERS BIG TIME
If you're looking forward to carry it around alot and take pictures at the right moments quickly, look for the one with fast response time... For example, some camera takes so long to get turned on... by the time it's ready.. you missed the right moment. This is not a big deal if you're only going to use it when things are all posed and smiling at you waiting generously.
4)LOOK FOR OPTICAL ZOOM, NOT DIGITAL ZOOM.
For example... If you look at that Kodac in above post, it's advertized as 15x zoom, but if you read the detail the optical zoom is only 3x. Digital zoom eats off the picture quality so it's better not to use it unless you really want to see something from far (just get a binocular!). Optical zoom is the real lense-zoom that will give you the same high quality pictures.
5)CHECK THE CCD(Charge Coupled Device) SIZE.
CCD is one that absorbs the light and records the image(think of it as the film in film camera). Smaller the CCD is, harder to take stable pictures. This can be really annoying especially when you're taking indoor shots. It's really a compromising to use compact size cameras opposed to big ones because the size of CCD is limited. However, 'Big camera' doesn't always mean 'Big CCD.' For example.... CCD size of Nikon D1(Only 2.6MegaPixel) is 23.7 x 15.6mm, and the most of the 3.3Mega Pixel cameras have CCD size of 5.52mm x 4.14mm. This is a huge difference and Nikon D1 is more expensive.
6)OTHERS
LCD size and type(Some have rotating LCD which is very very convenient, especially when you're taking self-shot), ISO and Lighting mode choices, Functions(eg:Some offer automatic stablizing that corrects shaky pix)... etc..
Well.. I'm writing an essay here... Hope this helped.. I do suggest that you study quite a bit if you don't want to regret.. unless you're as rich as pooners..
Don't just go to a Future Shop and buy... If you look around online there're tons of more selections of excellent quality cameras that you've probably never even seen... Look at mine for example...
http://www.classiccameraexchange.com/mediac/400_0/media/Contax~SL300RT.jpg
http://karkun.com/contax/SL300ti0421.jpg
http://www.dixis.ru/prod_foto/contax_sl300r.jpg
Prices are much better too... eBay or Bizrate for example.. Worried about warranty hassles of online shopping? It's very unlikely for a brand-new name-brand electronics to go wrong during the warranty time anyways(I find... maybe except Sony)... and price difference is alot...
