Someone asked, "On the box it says it is 2.0 megapixels (where in the heck do they come up with these names?)" "Pixel" is short for picture element, the smallest thing that your computer can display. Each pixel can display millions of colors (one color per pixel). Digital photos are made up of many, many pixels. The more pixels you have, the larger picture you can view and print without distortion.(Although not a direct comparison, think of it as the "grain" on regular film; finer grained film produces clearer prints)

Digital cameras are represented by their maximum number of pixels, ie; 2.0 megapixels. Beware of cameras that say something like, "2.0 megapixel equivalent"; these are using their internal software to "upres" (up the resolution) a 1.0 megapixel image to 2.0. The quality can vary greatly.  Megapixel = One million pixels. So a 2.0 megapixel camera has 2,000,000 pixels, enough to print a very good 5x7 and a decent 8x10. 4.0 megapixels will do a very good 11x17, and a decent 16x20.

With sophisticated photo editing software (ie; Photoshop) you can print even larger prints (or crop out a small section and blow it up larger). Generally the more pixels the better, but you have to balance that with your budget. (There are 16 megapixel cameras available, but they cost $20,000 or more :-)

There are some good priced 4.0 megapixel cameras out now that will do just about any print that you can think of.  For strictly web use (straight from the camera, no cropping), almost any camera will do. A good source for digital camera reviews is:  Digital Photography Review.