SLR cameras, what to buy?

I'm looking to get a nice camera but totally stumped with what to get. I don't know a lot about SLR cameras so I'm gonna look around and do some research first.

Just to get a few quick things ot of the way, which is better to buy? SLR or DSLR?
There are Nikon and Canon cameras, I'm leaning more towards Nikon just cause I have been using Nikon for a while now.

I'm not looking for something too expensive or high-tech for experts, something simple for beginners really.

Nikon and canon both r dslr d means digital, go for 550 or 600d canon

SLRs use 35mm film. DSLRs are digital. Any Canon, Nikon or Pentax SLR will be fine if you shoot film. The Rebel T3 and Nikon D3100 are currently the most popular entry-level DSLRs.

SLR's use film. DSLR's don't. SLR's are pretty cheap but you spend on film and developing plus there's that waiting time before you see your pictures. Digital is more expensive initially but provides instant gratification.

As for brands, the most developed in film SLR's are from Japan. Consider Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Fujica and Pentax. For dSLR's any will do. They are all basically the same. There's no such thing as high-tech dSLR. If you know how to use one, you can use them all. That means if you don't know how to use one, you can't use them all.

Why do you want a dSLR? DSLR does not automatically mean better pictures. They're generally not as 'simple' as a good quality point & shoot. Sure, you can use it in full auto mode, but to really benefit from using a dSLR, you'll need to use some manual control.

Without some understanding of basic photography concepts, and assuming that your not using any of the manual modes, it's really just a bigger, heavier camera that doesn't fit well into pockets… Yes, it has a better sensor than most P&S cams, but only certain types of photography (high ISO or night time shots for example) are going to show any real difference in image quality.

Also, a good quality P&S will be all self-conatined in one package. The hyper-zoom P&S cameras that are availabe today can handle pretty much 95% of all photography situations. (decent wide anlge, extreme telephoto, and super close macro etc) And can do it without carrying any extra gear. A dSLR will need at least two or more lenses to cover that same focal range of these types of cameras. All this extra gear gets pretty darned heavy after a while.

I own a dSLR, and use it for specific things, but my go-to camera to bring with me everywhere is a P&S. If you do end up getting a P&S, make sure it has some manual control. At the very least, control of the shutter speed and aperture.