Good Digital Camera?

Question

I'm a freshman in college and I love taking pictures! Right now I have a Casio Exilim that's about three years old. It's 7.2 megapixels and 3X optical zoom. Some idiot dropped my camera, I had them take a picture at a graduation of me and a close friend and she dropped it =/. Now it doesn't work as well that happened about a year ago and I'd really like to get a new camera. I heard that sony is an excellent brand. Also could someone explain to me what exactly megapixels and optical zoom are, sorry if that's a stupid question. Thanks everyone! =]

Answer 1

go to bestbuy ot bestbuy.com  they got good camera's on there

Answer 2

If you can afford this camera cost 275 + shippingget it Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K 9MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-TZ5K...

is the best under 300 and has all the feature you wanted and more (10x optical zoom, 720P HD VIDEO record, panasonic does provided sharp image)

if you wanted more affordable goes to canon they know for quality.  To avoid repeat same mistake as before, get a camera strip.