Need help to buy Camera. Please?

I'm most probably going to China to study next semester and I need a good camera. Not a super professional camera, but a good camera with interesting features, good respectable optical lens and respectable quantity of mega-pixels.

However, I have NO idea of what exactly is needed.
How many mega-pixels are a respectable quantity of them?
How much optical lens is needed for a comfortable experience?
What other features are as important or interesting to have?
What are the best digital camera brands??

For this matter I am not thinking of spending more than $330.

Thanks.

Anyway thanks for the tips so far... but could you please answer about the respectable values for Mpixels and optical lens?

go on CNet.com and check out their reviews......you can put in a dollar amount and find reviews on cameras in your price range. They're usually spot on.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-6501_7-0.ht...

Go to Canon.com and check them out.They have high quality cameras that have been discontinued at very reasonable prices.Anything 4pixels or higher is ok.Try to find canon PowerShot A420.I have 1 and it does everything buy cook dinner.Great camera,great price.Good luck

I own a few Nikon DSLR's and I'd buy the Canon Powershot A630 or A640 for myself. These cameras have the larger 1/1.8" (5.2 mm x 7.2 mm) sensor that is nearly double the sensor size you find in many point and shoot cameras and this translates into better image quality. They allow fully automatic use or total user control and offer several stages in between. The only significant difference between these cameras is that the A630 is 8 MP and the A640 is 10 MP.

If you're going to spend up to $250, look at a Canon Powershot A630. My brother has had his A630 for about a year and it's a very nice camera. You can get it at B&H Photo (available through Yahoo! Shopping) for $212.

If you can go to $350, look at the 10 MP Canon Powershot A640. This is not a camera that you can stuff into your shirt pocket, but it's an excellent camera. It sells for about $300 and you can add a very nice memory card for under $50.

For either camera, buy a 1 or 2 GB Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III card. You will NEED the increased capacity and write speed to fully realize the benefits of your camera. The Ultra II would be excellent, but if you are really into video, you might prefer the faster Extreme III. These cards cost from about $25-45 at B&H and several other outlets.

A630: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Ca... (Read owner opinions)

A640: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona64...

If you are looking for a smaller camera that you can put in your pocket, look at the Canon SD1000 or SD 700-IS. I think the A630-640 would give you slightly better image quality, but as you are travelling, the smaller camera might be an advantage to consider.

SD700-IS reviews:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd7...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...

SD1000 review:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_revi...

Hi there. I am a pro sports photographer and I use all kinds of cameras. But when I go on vacation I only take one. It is a fuji finepix and I highly recommend it. You should go for as much optical zoom as you can get. My fuji has 10X optical zoom. Optical zoom is when the camera actually zooms in on the subject using the power of the lens. Digital zoom is not really zoom at all - it is just an enhancement of the pixels in the center of your frame. Regarding pixel numbers, 6mp is plenty. Some of my pro cameras have 10mp but I very rarely need that much. The more mp you use, the fewer pics you can store on your memory card. Make sure you buy a memory card with plenty of storage space. The ones that come with the cameras can only store a handful of pics. Also take plenty of batteries! It's scary how fast a digital camera goes through them! Good luck in China. I'm not a bit jealous! I'm not! I'M NOT!

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

Get a Canon G7. It 's small for traveling aboard and got some of the SLR features for creative photography.

Probably the Canon A630 would be my first choice.It has 8 megapixels and is 4X optical zoom and can take AA batteries. It's excellent on batteries. I wanted plenty of zoom, so I bought and you may consider the Sony Cybershot DSC-H2. Very good on batteries takes excellent 8X10s when enlarged. Has 6 megapixels and 12X optical zoom. Has image stabilizer and comes with battery charger. Equally as good is the Fuji Finepix S5200. Excellent on AA batteries, is 5 megapixels and 10X optical zoom. Check out reviews of cameras at Website dpreview.com