What is the best digital camera at an affordable price? What pixel setting is the best?

Sony and Canon both offer some nice low cost cameras.

If you need cheap and fair quality, my friend bought an HP 5 pixel for $100. and I was shocked at the quality for the price she paid.

While everyone is offering 7 & 8 megapixels, and most will say more is better. I have found that many people are just wanting to take snap shots, of pets, kids, birthday parties and such. For this a 5 megapixel will do a great job and save you a few dollars.

If you are wanting to print larger pictures to frame and hang, bigger is better.

Also look at the optical zoom NOT the digital zoom!!!! A little optical will give you much better pictures than a bunch of digital.

My personal favorite is the Sony Cybershot. Mine is now 3 years old, has been dropped, left out in the rain, carried in the bottom of my purse, and still takes good pictures.

By the way I don't recommend putting yours through the life mine has been though. They really don't like to get wet or dropped.

what do you consider affordable, some people think $200 and some people think $700?

I just bought a Canon powershot SD550. It's 7.1 megapixels and has a 3X zoom lense. It's small enough to easily fit into my purse, has amazing abilities to change the colors ans settings. You can even take video clips and purchase a water proof case to use underwater. I LOVE it, it takes amazing pictures and has a large 2X1.5 inch screen. It was about $300 and worth every penny!

You need to look for a camera that has at least 5 mega pixels.

You can try looking at a Fuji finepix s7000.
A 6.3 mega pix camera, with a SLR type body.
Takes super pictures. Great prints 8 x 10.

Panasonic LZ5 6 megapixel, 6x optical zoom, Mega OIS. Any of the Panasonic cameras with the Leica lenses. Leica is the world leader in High end lenses.