I don't know what kind of camera to buy?

I'm looking into asking for one of those "high-tech" cameras for Christmas from my parents, however, I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't want one too fancy that legitimate photographers use, but I do want one fancy enough to take clear pictures.

I'd like a camera that takes pictures with about that^ much quality to them. Pardon my units of measurement/levels of fanciness.

Also, Canon or Nikon? Models? Please don't just give me a brand. That really doesn't help me much, a model or kind of camera would be preferred.

It really depends on your budget,
You can get entry level cameras (DSLRs) like the Nikon D3100, Canon t2i, Sony a33, and Pentax k-x

All the major brands make excellent cameras.
There isn't one better than the other, its all just personal opinion.

My recommendations:

<$200: Canon SX130IS, SX150IS
<$300: Nikon P7000, Nikon P300, P310, Canon S95
<$400: Nikon P7100, Canon G12, Canon S100, or Panasonic DMC-LX5
<$500: Olympus XZ-1

For the specific cameras I mentioned, most include manual exposure controls, fast lenses, and a couple of them even have manual focus capability and customizable white balance, not something normally seen in a compact camera.

Some have slightly larger sensors than the typical compact, and do not suffer from the overkill (at least as much) of high MegaPixel count sensors or ridiculously high power zoom lenses - both of which serve to reduce photo quality.

Of course, by the time Christmas rolls around, half of these cameras will likely have been replaced by something else. The compact camera market has a quick model obsolescence - usually a year.

Note to contributor Charles, the Pentax Kx is discontinued. Pentax does not have a camera in that price range (about $550.00). Even though we keep hoping they will wake up and smell the roses.

Now to your question. "I have no idea what I'm doing", these are your words and I think that a DSLR camera which accepts interchangeable lenses is too much camera to start off with. Besides it is in effect a money pit. This is fine if you know this going in to photography, but instead of the price surprise of extra lenses, I suggest you get a good quality "bridge" camera that is capable of great 11x14 size prints, but of course does not have the quality of the big guns of the DSLR models at $550.00.

A great "bridge" camera, I like to recommend is the Fuji Finepix S2950, selling for about $152.00 on amazon. This camera will allow you to do close-up of flowers and telephoto work with it's very long lens of 504mm (comparable to 35mm film cameras). And everything in between! Now I know that Fuji does not get mentioned that much on this forum. I probably mention more than anybody else. And the reasons are that I have had personal experience with a Fuji digital camera when digital cameras were just beginning to come out. And I found out that Fuji backs their cameras better than most, as long as you deal with them if you have any problems. Forget retailers when it come to a camera problem! Deal with the manufacturer.

For a tad over $500- you can purchase the Nikon D3100 entry level kit. Which means it comes with a lens. This is a DSLR type camera. Are you prepared to learn the basics of photography such as using different shutter speeds/apertures/ISO settings. People don't buy this type of camera to leave on auto. Buying this type and not putting in the effort to learn is a waste of money. That's my 2 cents.