I'm looking to buy a DSLR?

I want a Nikon buy can't decide between the D3100 or D5000. Which one would you buy and why?

If you want to take movies then go for the d3100.it has a full hd movie mode compared to the d5000's 720p movie mode. If you don't care about movies then go for the d5000. The d5000 has a bigger sensor, lower resolution (this is a good thing), and a sivel lcd. The d3100 is smaller lighter and has a better battery life than the d5000.overall i think the d3100 wins in everything other than in image quality!

Actually as far as i know the D3100 beats the D5000 when it comes to the sensor. While its ssensor has smaller pixels, it is a much newer design and is said to have gained about one f-stop of low light performance compared to the sensor of the D5000/D90/D300.

I think the only real advantages of the D5000 are more sublte features such as the ISO display in the viewfinder, the support for infrared remotes, both of which the D3100 does not have.

I'd go with the D3100.

It's same price but has better quality and less noise when at higher ISO. It also has continous AF while recording videos, which is the first DSLR to do that! It's also smaller and lighter!

Here's a post called 'Buying a DSLR, what's important, megapixels, features, brand, price, quality and which one to buy (Amazon links) - http://www.the-dslr-photographer.com/2009/03/which-dslr-to-buy.html