What is a great DSLR Camera?

I want one easy to use, friendly navigation menu, and incredible digital images, super clear. I don't really need a camera with video recording. I hear that Nikon or Canon are the best two brands is that true? I also want to stay under 1, 000!

Staying under a grand is hard. Most expensive part is starting up! But if you are looking at it I would go the D90 with a 50mm 1.8 for starters.

Nikon d7000! Or d60 is good for cheaper, :)

I don't think one brand is any better than the others, although I think the lens lineup for Canon and Nikon is better than most other brands.

Whoever said Nikon costs more than Canon is misinformed. They are essentially the same price, although they do cost more than a comparable model from Olympus or Pentax.

At the price range you are looking in, you will see very little difference between brands. You should get whatever camera feels the best in your hand.

Nikon, Canon and Pentax are all good brands. Pentax offers the best price/performance ratio of these. Canon is in the middle, Nikon is the most expensive system.

Consider the Nikon D3100 or D5100, Pentax Kx or Kr, Canon T1i or T2i (500D or 550D) or T3 (1100D), but not T3i (600D… That one is just a 550D with some more gimmicks but much more expensive)

The quality of the photo depends more on the skill of the photographer than on the camera. These cameras are capable of stunning photos in the right hands though - but don't expect to produce great shots just at the press of a button. That takes lots of practice.

Also, keep in mind that quality lenses are more important to image quality than the camera body as well. These easily can cost another few hundred bucks… So save a bit for them.

Edit:
Tim: Nikon lenses usually cost at least as much as their Canon counterpart, sometimes they are significantly more expensive or the Canon counterpart of equal price offers better specs, such as IS where the Nikon lens has no VR. You'll be hard pressed to find a Nikon lens that is cheaper than its Canon counterpart though, or which out-specs it.
Examples:
Canon 50mm/1.8: $100
Nikon 50mm/1.8D or G $150 and $225 respectively

Canon 24-70/2.8L: $1400
Nikon 24-70/2.8: $1750

I'm not saying that all Nikon lenses are more expensive than their Canon counterparts, but when there's a difference in price, then usually Nikon is the more expensive one - often quite a bit more expensive. Hence Nikon is the more expensive system in average overall.