Digital SLR

So, I have a cousin who, basically, works for Olympus (ok, really, a cousin's cousin, but relatives are relative, aren't they?). She's gotten me to check out the Olympus digital SLRs and I'm getting quite intrigued about cameras again.
I think I really enjoy the research and the comparisons, but the toys are nice too.

I bought (or rather, my dad bought) a camera for my birthday earlier this year: a Canon SD730. It's a nice little camera. I wanted something a little smaller than my previous Canon A80, which I bought back in 2003 in a sweet ebay deal. The battery compartment on that camera crapped out on me (what do you expect when a two year old drops it?) and I hadn't bothered to get it fixed yet. It had great little manual controls that produced great photos, even if it was only a 4.0 mp camera. The fact that it could accomodate additional add-on lenses was attractive, yet I should have also reconsidered the reality of actually purchasing these lenses; I never got around to requiring additional lenses.

So although my little point-and-shoot camera is still very nice, that dSLR itch I had a year ago is coming back to haunt me something fierce.

Digital SLRs have really come down in price, and we're talking including lenses (none of this "body only" crap...most consumers are buying their first SLR, and I would think most would not have spare lenses hanging around). There are "prosumer" models, of course, that still run in the couple thousands (or more...though I refuse to find out!) but I'm only considering the novice/advanced photographer models.

I did take a couple of photography courses, which I absolutely enjoyed. The creativity was freeing and boundless...and I'd like to capture that again (no pun intended). We worked with film and not digital, though, so I would like to explore not darkroom photography (though fun) but working on my photo editing skills on Photoshop instead. Enter stage right the digital camera...but who will be the shining star?

I'm a Canon girl. Maybe always will be. But I tend to, on occasion, be dizzily persuaded in other directions before my senses come around (in all aspects of life, not just my shopping skills). Here's what I'm up against: Canon EOS Rebel XTi, Nikon D40x, and the Olympus E-510.

Now, I have only started my research, and it's a toss up still. Canon and Nikon being what they are, dependable, reliable and better upgrade path, the E-510 is gaining much attention to it's improvements, like dust reduction, IS, and noise. So many things to compare!

Great, just what I need....another reason to spend countless hours at the computer. Like I don't do that already.