If you're looking at just doing pictures for your computer, you wouldn't really need much more than 2 Megapixels (MP), as 2MP is bigger than most people's screens.

If you want to print out normal photos, I'm told that after about 4MP you won't notice the difference in print quality between that and a 8MP picture, unless you're printing on something bigger than A4.

The thing to look at investing your money in is Optical Zoom (ignore digital zoom, pretty much every computer, no matter how retarded, can do that), this is always handy at enhancing pictures.

Also look at how much it eats batteries and memory cards. Remember to leave some money to purchase a decent size memory card, as they normally only put in a card of miniscule size *insert rinso joke*. Other things to consider are the physical size and weight of the camera, if you've got a big mo-fo, you won't want to cart it around with you - in fact you won't be able to without snapping your arms.