[Mister X]

As exhaustive as Feynman's list is I think he missed a few things. First thing is to take a few of the actual kind of pic that you will be taking with the camera. If they'll let you take the camera outside then do that and take some pics with different backgrounds. And since you will most likely be using mainly the automatic modes at first, test in those too. A good test of how well the automodes work on a camera is a shot of someone or something in a fairly dim setting with a window behind them that shows a considerably brighter scene. Take a picture of someone standing against a white wall with and without the flash. The sad truth is that the flash on most digital cameras is really only useful in fill mode to soften shadows if you shoot in bright light. Some cameras have idiosyncracies with focus, etc. that just won't show up when you shoot controlled test shots of cards.