Reading the above I'm asking myself the same question - what is the final need for the image? Big prints for walls or web shots?

For web shots you'll never notice the difference, so why spend the money?

And yeah - I've seen PLENTY of images with 8-10MP cams taken with the cheapest lenses they could possibly skimp on - gotta love the yellow/blue fringing - it just adds that touch of class to an expensive 11x14 portrait print ;-) Again, no distinguishing traits from what size sensor was used.

I'm going to guess this is mostly hobby for them (just a hunch - nothing was said above) so I'd reccommend the 5-6MP cam with a good lens (or set of lenses if they can afford it) - if they ever need it to be bigger, get Genuine Fractals and double it - which will end up bigger than the 10MP cam anyway.

Tell them good luck-
-Lew ;-)