Ideas on good DSLR Cameras?

I'm wanting to get into photography as its always been something I enjoy along with design. I've been doing a lot of research lately and the cameras that have appealed to me was the Canon 550d, but after a bit more looking around a little bit more apparently the Nikon d3100 is the same but cheaper? (correct me if i'm wrong). I need ideas from people who might own these cameras or have experience in photography. An additional note, I really don't mind what circumstances this camera lacks in, more image quality.

Both are amazing cameras. But if you are looking for a long term investment and you are more into video then probably canon 550D is a better choice.btw canon 550D has been upgraded to canon 600D, you can look in to that one too if money is not the problem. But if you are more into Photography then nikon D3100 is better. The image quality is same for both cameras but I think nikon has a bit sharper image quality.

The actual camera body doesn't matter that much in terms of impac to image quality. Choose a DSLR in your budget that feels good in your hand from any of the major players (Canon, Nikon, Sony… ) and you'll be fine.

If you are looking at the D3100, be aware that it's just been replaced by the D3200 so you might want to look at that.

All DSLR cameras are good.

The make is irrelevant. There are more camera manufacturers out there than just Nikon and Canon.

These cameras don't lack in anything. Image quality depends firstly on the skill of the photographer - by far the most important consideration, second will be the quality of the lens, and the camera body itself is way behind in 3rd place.