Whats the best digital camera?

in that price range, go with the CANON 20D

i have it and love the shit out of it. Assuming you dont mind a full body ... but you get used to it and its well worth it for quality

Yeah the 20D rocks!

I have had mine for 2 months and I've shot over 4000 pics lol.

Nikon

I've been taking pictures for about 20 years, and have stuck mainly to Olympus (analogue in the old days) and Nikon (both from analogue to digital).
I had of course the mid format stuff too...

Canon have always seemed to be in the middle of development when I have been buying cameras, while Nikon have had the latest kick-ass stuff.
Today though, I feel it doesn't really matter what you get, as long as it has enough correct pixels to give definition in results.

And that all boils down to lens quality and lighting no matter what you use!
My Nikon connected to stacks of lights etc is great.

For ease of use, I'd be tempted to get those middle things. Not the ultimate compact cameras, but the next step up.
I believe Minolta has good stuff there, and up at around 7 MP, so you're safe with that.

True SLR cameras are a bit clumbsy if you don't know photography, as they often don't have the screen before taking the picture. Whereas the mid cameras do, and are pretty amazing with all the same functionality.

Just make sure the lens is high quality! None of those small things with lenses the size a moscquito butthole.

I have the 20D, and you can grab that on e-bay for somttimes under 1k