I've just bought a dslr, so I can give you the results of my research.
I bought a Nikon D60 with 18-55 VR kit lens for £340 from Amazon and a 55-200 lens from allcam for £135 ish.
From the reviews I read (
http://www.dpreview.com/ was very good) the Nikon kit lens is better than the standard Canon Kit lens.
The Nikon D40 is ~£220 at Amazon and gets good reviews. I went for the D60 for 10megapixels over 6, and a few extras, plus VR lens over without. Worth noting that the vibration reduction is in the lens on the Nikons, so you have to buy specific lenses. Not a problem, unless you've a lot of Nikon lenses already which you'd have to focus yourself.
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/ shows cheapest prices and how they've changed over time and what's at the current lowest price.
I'm way amateur compared to hedgepig and wayland, but I hope my new buyer perspective helps.
Just for reference, I was a Canon man up until now. I've had the original Ixus, Powershot A60 and S2 IS up until now. One of my major doubts was switching away from Canon.
I've only had the camera a few days so far. I'll post a few photos in the new photography sub forum when I've a chance. I'm very impressed so far.