Let me ask a basic question - why do you want a DSLR? They do not automagically produce better photos than a regular "point and click." A lot of people buy DSLR's because they are marketed heavily and because their friends/neighbors have them, despite the fact that it is the completely wrong camera for them. DSLR's are capable of taking better pictures than just "point and click" cameras, but they won't do it by themselves - the photographer must be capable of taking good pictures as well. Most people use DSLR's to take bad pictures which may have been better pictures if the camera was NOT a DSLR.
A DSLR is not the camera for you if:
1. You don't really intend to learn photography - you know, how light works, f-stops, apertures, etc. The whole point of the (D)SLR is to give the photographer more control over the photography process, and if you aren't capable of using that control, there is no point in having a DSLR. If you are just taking pictures on the "auto" setting, the advantages of the DSLR are lost and only the disadvantages, such as the larger size and weight, remain.
2. You don't intend to become at least somewhat proficient at Photoshop or similar software. Generally, DSLR photos look worse without post processing than a consumer-camera photo because they are not as sharp or as vivid. A consumer camera does quite a bit of processing in camera. The DSLR end-user is expected to do much of the post processing, such as sharpness and color adjustments, etc. him/herself.
3. You don't intend to spend good money on lenses. The "kit" lens that comes with the overwhelming majority of DSLR's, especially low-end DSLR's, are utter crap. When buying a DSLR you're buying a camera system, not just a camera body. The lens is far and away the most important part of that camera system, not the body. For most pros and serious amateurs a camera body (or bodies) constitute a small fraction of their investment in lenses. Every DSLR is capable of taking good pictures, but that's hardly the case with every lens. If you buy a DSLR but do not use it with a good lens, you take away your DSLR's capability to take better quality images than a "point and click."
Finally, if you do decide that a DSLR is for you, don't just look at Canon and Nikon. They're both excellent brands that make excellent products, but they're not the only ones and other manufacturers may offer cameras which have important features which Canon/Nikon do not have, either at the same price point or at all.
The thing writes super-fast too!
