Re: Photo Scene+++

In general, the physical size of the CCD (or CMOS, or whatever) element makes more difference than the number of pixels. SLRs are great because the element is about the size of a quarter and the lense in front of it has a lot of area, so even if you chop it up into 6MP like e.g. the Nikon D70, the pictures come out excellent at conventional shutter speeds.

In point-and-shoot models, the element is usually dime-sized or even a bit smaller, so each pixel cannot capture as much light. Chop it up too small, and the picture quality suffers.

If you can, borrow a 6-8MP point-and-shoot camera from a friend and carry it for a few days with one of your old units -- then take a series of identical pictures in a variety of conditions on both cameras. The results should give you a better idea what kind of tradeoffs you might be dealing with.