i personally recommend the Nikon D40x
it comes with a nice 18-55 lens for general shots,
uses SD which makes the memory cheap
the batteries last so long i manage to loose the charger between chages
the auto function and picture quality is amazing
they are fairly well featured, there are some things they lack but mostly ok
i use a nikon D40 and a nikon D200 and i actually prefer the D40 out of ease of use