What other features should I look for when buying a digital camera?

apart from mega pixels what else can I look for? I am looking for a digital camera and have 拢300 - 拢500 to spend on it.

With your budget you are safely in the boundaries to affording a really good camera, my recommendations would be the Nikon D50 (an absolute dream to use and the pictures that come out of it are stunning) or the Sony A100 (not quite as sharp as the Nikon but somehow more realistic if that makes sense, also much better for bad weather and lighting conditions). With your budget you could also look at compact non SLR cameras such as the Canon Ixus range (all of the ones that I have used are very very good for their size) and then have some change to buy a decent piece of software for photo editing, if you are a beginner then the latest version of Adobe Photoshop Elements should suffice, if not then try and find a second hand copy of CS2.

Zoom capability, on board editing Ok thats two!

battery life........memory size.....

The best advice i would give you is the size of the lens,the bigger the better.If you look at all the proffesionals on the T.V. you will notice their lenses are always massive.There are a few cameras out there in your price range that have quite big lenses.I would look at the latest Minolta Dimage cameras also Kodac.

when buying a digital camera of course look for mega pixels maybe in the sevens Also zoom can come in handy but if you want to travel with maybe getting a small and compact camera would be great

Optical Zoom should be 5-10, SLR is VERY good! A good lcd screen so you can see what you've taken. A quick shutter so you don't miss anything. And any extras!

~Cammy

my suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
be sure to check titles on the left side
the guide should answer your questions

4 to 6 megapixels would be fine, an image stabilizer, and a fairly large size sensor. 6X optical zoom would be sufficient unless you go into super zooms as I did at 12X optical. No more than a 1 second delay between shots. Manual controls is a must. All the above for that kind of money without even thinking of DSLRS
Examples of super zooms would be:
Sony DSC-H2 6 megapixels, 12X optical zoom
Fuji S5200 5 megapixels, 10X optical zoom
Canon S2 IS 5 megapixels, 12X optical zoom

It depends on what kind of stuff you like to shoot. Notice several people here said to get a good zoom. I take almost all my pictures at the lowest magnification and I really wouldn't miss it if I had a camera with no zoom. Likewise, I've been happy with "only" 6 megapixels. What matters to me is:
1. Good battery life. Make darn sure your camera uses a rechargeable battery..
2. Good performance in low light. I went through a haunted house yesterday and they allowed photos as long as I didn't use a flash. Not just any camera can take pictures in a haunted house without a flash.
I personally own a Fujifilm Finepix F10 and have been very happy with it. It's discontinued, but its sequels (F30, F40FD) are even better.

You should get the PENTAX Optio W30. It has TONS of features, VERY good picture quality, its sleek & stylish. And to add to all that, its waterproof! You can see the camera here: http://www.pentaximaging.com/products/pr...
I have had the PENTAX Optio W10 (a slighty older version) for a few years now and I absoloutly LOVE it!