Basic important points:
1. Go for the biggest optical zoom you can afford, and ignore digital zoom, as all this do is blow the centre of the picture and crop.
2. Aim for between 4mp to 6mp, but remember bigger pixel count doesn't always mean better quality photo's. 4mp will print a photo A4 size in perfect clarity.
3. Try and check how wide angled the lense is, will normally state this on the front of the lense itself, wider is better.
Recommendation:
£0-£200 = Kodak Z700
£200-£300 = Fuji F10
Many of the comparison photo's rated the Kodak as having superior pictures certainly in terms of foreground detail to the Fuji - despite the Kodak being 4mp compared to the Fuji's 6mp - also read that the Fuji can be a dog for generating red eye due to the flash position.