I've had some experience with the Kodak P series cameras. I owned the P850 for a little under a year. It has a 5 megapixel resolution and a 12x optical zoom. It also has Image Stabilization. It also has a hot shoe; I purchased the Kodak P20 flash which works well with Kodak's P line cameras. The only quibbles I had with the P850 is that the click to capture time and time between pictures are somewhat slow.

Kodak's P880 I have tried, but didn't like it. The P880 has an 8 megapixel resolution, but the zoom is only 5.8x versus the 12x on the P850, which has a 5 megapixel resolution. It too has a hot shoe for an external flash. Kodak's site states that the P880 has anti-shake on night portrait mode.

I sold my P850 and upgraded to the P712. Kodak improved the click to capture and picture to picture time greatly in the P712 and it has a 12x zoom, image stabilization, a hot shoe and 7 megapixel resolution. Kodak added a candlelight mode and two panorama modes on the P712. I did purchase Kodak's P20 flash and used it for group shots and a wedding with my P850 and found it to be adequate for these tasks.

You mentioned that you want to have a decent megapixel resolution. I printed pictures from the P850 as large as 8 x 10, which looked good to my non-professional eye. Since the P880 and P712 have higher resolutions, they should be even better at larger sized pictures.

All 3 cameras have auto, program, aperture and shutter priority modes and full manual modes. You can adjust exposure compensation, flash compensation and adjust for light conditions. The cameras have many scene modes such as portrait, night portrait, beach, sunset, backlight, etc. which as nice in their respective situations. If you want you can run the camera on full manual mode. The P880 has 1 custom mode, which you can create to use in a situation that isn't covered under the preset modes. The P712 and P850 have 3 custom modes.

All three cameras have diopter adjustment for the viewfinder, which is through the lens. All three cameras have a generous 2.5" LCD (which makes reviewing the pictures easy) and a hot shoe. I appreciate the cameras' diopter adjustment that is on the viewfinder, I like not having to wear glasses when using the camera.

Sorry this is long, I tried to speak to the features you are looking for. If you have a choice and don't mind paying a little more, I would recommend the P712 over the P880 due to the higher zoom and faster click to capture and picture to picture times. The resolutions are close, with 8 for the P880 and 7 for the P712. You'll definitely want a secure digital card as the cameras only have 32 MB of memory, which only holds a few pictures due to the cameras' higher resolution. Kodak cameras are known for their ease of use and I have found this to be true. The included EasyShare software is easy to install and use and you can do basic photo editing with it, as well as simple editing that exists on the P line camera such as cropping. Tranfering pictures is easy using either a card reader, the included USB cord to connect the camera to your computer or by purchasing one of Kodak's printers and use it to print 4 x 6 pictures, charge the camera's batteries as well as transfer pictures.

Both the P850 and P712 feel solid in your hand and the controls are logically placed, responsive and easy to use. Picture quality is great under many different lighting conditions and the cameras work great as basic point and shoot cameras, with grow room for more experienced photographers. They are nice for people who enjoyed 35mm photography and are looking to try digital.

I hope this helps a little.