8x optical zoom? Anybody who buys this cam will buy it for that.
For "normal people" anything above 3-4MP is pointless since you have all the quality you need (a 3MP camera will still give you prints really up to A3 at a push). A 1MP camera gives you enough quality to view on your average monitor full size, it's just about how well it uses those.
But, as you say, size, but you won't ever (well, not for along time) be able to fit 8x optical zoom into anything small.