Don't just look at the mega pixels value, its not a measurement of how good a camera is, just its image size, anything over 5MP is suitable for most people. Digital zoom is pointless, it just the same as blowing the image up on the PC, optical zoom is the one to look at, most have 3x, so anything over that is better. Make sure it has lots of manual setting as this will help you improve your pictures as you get more advanced with the camera.
Read lots of reviews and check out sample images (Fuji have them on their site), also download the manual as this gives more info about the interface and use of features (eg you may find you can only use some features in certain modes). If your planing on buying online theres nothing wrong with going into a shop to have a look at it and get a physical feel before you buy online.

Cheers for the advice and recomendations.

G1BBO

That cam looks quite good, is it good for biking pics (non blur) and  is it easy to use for beginners??

Not rechargeable batteries??  how long do the AA last?

Cheers

oh and about the batteries well mine lasted for 2 days of quite big use with the disposable batteries it came with
i went to argos and got some 2500mah batteries for a tenner and i got 4 but i havent used it since so ic ant compliment on those batteries.
but it doesnt drain the batteries