Name Brand Digital Cameras
What should you look for in resolution?
You need at least 200 pixels-per-inch for photographic quality. So for a 4x6 proof print to stick on the fridge, an 800x1200 image will be fine. For an 11x14 you'll want 2200x2800 (6 megapixels).
Note that the megapixels from a digital camera aren't as good as the megapixels coming from a slide scanner. Slide scanners essentially have three CCDs underneath each pixel, one for red, one for green, one for blue. The array of CCDs in a digital camera is covered by a mosaic of red, green, and blue filters. Thus a digital camera might produce a megapixel of luminance (black and white) information, but only a third as much resolution in the area of color.
The process of mapping those megapixels, each a different color, into a traditional computer RGB format is known as "demosaicing". The quality of the algorithm used to demosaic will affect the final image quality. This is yet another reason not to judge cameras by specifications alone.
To show that you can't judge an image by the numbers, compare the following:
1600x1200 image from Canon S100, unaltered, maximum quality
2048x1536 image from Canon G1, unaltered, maximum quality
1536x1024 PhotoCD scan from a 35mm ISO 100 slide film original
1024x1024 ProPhotoCD scan from a 6x6cm original slide (section of a 1536x1024 scan)
1300x1024 ProPhotoCD scan from a 4x5 inch original slide (section of a 1536x1024 scan)
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