How many megapixels do I need in my digital camera?

More is not necessarily better in this case. It depends on what you intend to do with the photographs. If you want to print your photos real real big, then the more megapixels the better. If you just want to take some nice pics of your dog and your pals and maybe print some out, no need to go wacky. These days even entry level point and shoots have a pretty high megapixel count (12-14 in some cases, my first digital camera had a whopping 1.2). It would be more beneficial for the novice photog to choose a camera with a good lens and minimal shutter lag. I like David Pogue's take on entry level/$300 and less cameras in this article. He gives a lot of other features to look for in a camera.  I've only ever owned a Fuji Finepix, though different model years. I love it and I think it takes very nice photos. I have even blown some up to 20x30 with my current Finepix with no real problem and it only has 5.1 megapixels. Man, I need a new camera! F70EXR here I come!