I've always thought that the lens is the most important part of any camera so i would tend to go for one that is made by a well known camera manufacturer such as Olympus, Nikon, Canon etc. The tip about AA batteries is well worth noting. If your funny battery goes flat in some remove vilage you are stuck. If the camera runs on AA's then you can buy those almost anywhere.
Dont buy the memory card from Dixons etc, have a look at
www.sevendayshop.com and compare prices.