EOS Canon T1i, T3, or Nikon D3100?

I have enough money to buy myself a good, decent, DSLR. I know these SLR's aren't entry-level anymore, but I just need a good starter. I just can't decide between these three because I have great offers.

First, my friend is offering me the Canon T1i w/ standard 55mm lens at $400 even. Not to mention an SD card, new carrying pack for it, lens filter, and supplied manufactured accessories.

I found a site that is selling the Canon EOS T3 at $380 w/ 55mm lens,

The same site also carries the Nikon D3100 at $430 w/55mm lens.

I need help deciding which camera to buy based on stats, performance, and handling. Which DSLR would be best for for a beginning photographer, yet still take wonderful pictures?

I think you mean 18-55mm lens, I'm not aware of 55mm primes. Ok, bottom line here. The Nikon has a superior Sony image sensor. So just compare features between the models and the price and just pull the trigger on one, not a big deal. You can always buy primes or a bigger all in one solution zoom later.

They will all take great pictures because thay all have similar size large sensors. The Nikon has the edge with both sensor quality and kit lens quality, but there's not enough in it for that to be the deciding factor. Try them out in your hands and see which you like best. You won't be disappointed with image quality from and DSLR.

By the way, buy the memory card at Amazon or mymemory. Stores will rip you off for SDHC memory cards. That's where they make their profits. Get a Sandisk Extreme class 10 45MB/s 16GB SDHC card from Amazon. That's a fast card by the best brand and Amazon will have a good price for it.

I'd go with the Nikon. And all three are entry level cameras.

The Nikon D3100 is the best dslr camera for beginners.
https://www.amazon.com/...003ZYF3LO/

14.2-megapixel DX-format CMOS Image Sensor
Includes 3x 18-55mm Zoom-NIKKOR VR Image Stabilization Lens
Full 1080p HD Cinematic Video