IMO are your best options for a budget DSLR.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos350d/
The Nikon has some advantages over the Canon that UW makes a difference. Selecting the ISO, Metering, and AF modes required hitting the set button on the Canon, and is a bit akward. The Canon Kit lens is junk compared to the Nikon kit lens, so IMO don't purchase the kit lens if you go Canon.
The Canon however does have one advantage over the Nikon which is high ISO noise reduction. However with noise ninja and other such products, the Nikon does well, but the Canon does better in camera.
Regardless of your Oly brand name preference, IMO it is a mistake to purchase a DSLR that comes in mounts other than Nikon, or Canon. The lens choices alone make these two mounts IMO the only option (Fuji uses Nikon mounts).
The future of other DSLR manufactures is a bit up in the air. They are struggling to keep up with the top two. Things will settle down, but in the 80's when AF came out, everyone jumped on that bandwagon, but at the end of it all, OLY had declared that it would no longer produce AF SLR's, and became a PnS only manufacture. That may happen again with digital if the Evolt models don't start selling better.
When you start down the SLR path, you maybe making a lifetime commitment to a camera brand as glass is expensive. IMO at this point, there are really only two choices in lens mounts that are worth consideration. Keep in mind that one way to save on glass is the purchase of third party lenses (Sigma,Tokina,Tamron). These companies make very good glass for about 1/2 the price of Nikon or Canon. BUT generally their glass comes out in Nikon and Canon Flavors, and they then MAY add Pentex, Oly, and Minolta IF they think the market is good.
I'm not trying to start up a flame war with those shooting DSLR's other than Canon, Nikon, or Fuji just pointing out that the future of other digital manufactures is IMO uncertain, AND that for the $$$ I don't think anyone else is making better camera's with more optic options, so unless one has glass in hand why even consider anyone else?
My $.12 :b_cowboy: