ToolFreak:
Nathank's reply was pretty good, as others. IMHO you need to decide what you want to do with the pictures once you have them. If you plan on large prints, than 3 MP there abouts is a good choice, but if you plan on a web site or emailing mostly, 640X480 is good. I post mine on a web site, and don't print too many, so I use 640X480 mode most of the time. Hence my 1.3 MP is perfect in most cases. And I love the 8X optical zoom. What I do find is digital zoom has a tendency to fuzz the pictures slightly. If I was going to take my camera on my bike a lot, I think I would go with one of those Canon Powershot's for the small size and completly inclosed metal case, plus they take pretty good pics. I find if I carry the camera more, I take more shots because if I don't like it, I just delete it.
Just my 2 cents.