There's so many digital cameras out in the market recently; how do you know what to get?!

As a female shopping not so much for quality (of course that's important too) but for style, size, and price, there's even more to consider than the specifications of it all, coz of course, it is mostly gibberish to me - aperture speed?!

Firstly of course, it depends on what megapixels you need. I started off with a 2 megapixel camera, the quality when printing was actually quite bad. You could see the pixellation on the photos. I've upgraded to 5 megapixels. But then again I never print my photos anymore. However, on a 5 megapixel setting, the photos are pretty sharp. Nowadays a even more common resolution is probably 8 megapixels. Really depends on what you want.

Memory storage - I love Sonys but they force you to buy an additional memory stick. Can be quite expensive compared to its cheaper relatives; the SD card...

Size - I'm always after 'ultra compact' point and shoots. Ultra compact means you can stick it into a back pocket when going out!

Screen size - since I got my Minolta, I can't settle for anything less than 2.5". The picture is so much clearer and easier to see. As much as I like the Olympus, it just isn't the same. Apparently 2.5" screens take more battery though, so it depends on you.

Zoom: all the guys I know tell me to opt for optical zoom. That's the one that won't make all your shots blurry. But then again nowadays there's no shake functions...

Brand name: Some cameras honestly you do end up paying just for the brand. If you get a Sony, their prices are usually more inflated for cameras of equal quality. Same with the Casio Exilims, reputed for being the first thinnest cameras on the market...

And then there's all the other things - AA batteries or a battery pack, whether or not it has color focus function ,burst function, night settings, flash quality, aperture size, focus length, haha...in the end, when on eBay make sure the camera is AUTHENTIC! It sounds hard to believe that there are fake cameras around, but trust me, I've seen them, and they look just like the real thing.