May I recommend this?

Ironically, that's the camera Steve was using (he's borrowing it from work), and it's what prompted my camera jealousy. It's what I'd buy if I had the money.

If you're looking for something a little less expensive, I've had pretty good luck with a Canon Powershot S50 (5.0 MP), which I purchased off eBay (although in the last few months sometimes Costco has an even better deal.) And unlike the other Powershot models, the S50 comes with a Darth Vader black finish!

Yeah, that's definitely the way to go. I picked one up when they came out and haven't looked back. On the expensive side, though, especially considering you'll want to spend even more $$$ on an additional lens (or two...), and going cheap on lenses is never a good idea (except for the <$100 Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, which is perhaps the best lens value ever. Maybe even "evar.").

At this point, though, it might pay to hold off for a little while. Nikon is about to release their Digital Rebel competitor...a couple hundred bucks more, but more features. Canon may counter by lowering the price, or introducing another model...who knows.

I assume that you're referring to the D70... from everything I've been hearing, it should stack up nicely even to Nikon's D100- which itself is notch or two above the Digital Rebel. Much as I love the Rebel, I have to say that the D100 was an even more pleasurable experience to use. Also, some folk prefer Nikon's lenses to Canon's. Although that is more of a matter of personal preference at this point...

If I were buying for myself (and money weren't a factor), I'd have a hard time choosing between the D100 and Canon's 10D (the Rebel's big brother). The rebel is fantastic, but I've been finding that its on-board buffer is a little bit small- when in continuous drive mode, it can only take four or five full-res RAW files before it has to stop and spool to the flash card. This is, admittedly, not a problem that comes up all that often, but there are certainly types of photography where you might want more than that...