Catpiano

If you dont hv bunch of Canon / Nikon lens/gears, and you dont want to pay much ..  then buy Sony / Pentax/ Olympus ...  

They are cheap, and good for beginner ..  if you mainly plan to stuck with kit lens ..

Dont worry about people laughing at you using Sony/Olympus etc, even they are cheap, but good value.

I paid $449 for my A300 + 18-70 kits lens, it is as good as my 450D kit ( ~ $950) for half the price, when A300 offers tilt LCD, and better range, and built in A/S (you can buy cheap used minolta lens)

When I got my E420 + 14-42+40-150, it was only $599 few years ago, what a bargain ... I paid over $2,000 to get my D70 kit ....

Of course, if you are planning to get more decent lens in the future, Canon/Nikon offer better choice.

Don't get me wrong, most the Olympus lens are very good as well, and for much less money, (such as their F2.0 lens .... ~ 1/3  cost compare to Canon/Nikon) however, lots of limitation with small sensor.

For Sony, they offer lots of cheap lens, and some decent Zeiss lens as well, which is as good/better then some "L" and "ED" lens from Canon/Nikon, and good resell value as well, even if you plan to upgrade, A900 is a bargain for under $3K, (same sensor as $9,000 D3X)  ...  as long as you dont mind people pointing at you, and say " Oh .. look at that guy, he is using a SONY ....  "   then it is fine. ^_^

Um ..   you should also lets us know what do you plan to shoot with your DSLR ..  some of my friends, end up loving the fisheye effect, some of them, into wedding photography, some of them, into "Beat bird", some of them, into macro ..  

^_^

Catpiano

Regarding to buying used .....  

It is good or bad ... for entry model or some mid range model, almost more risky ...

Example, $1500 to buy a used 5D, probably will get best result for money, I still like my 5D most, and use it most the time, IQ is as good as other 12MP, 17, or even 22MP FF camera .. however, just it's handling isn't up today, (doesn't matter to me) and more concern about aged 5D, such as shutter life, (hard to check) dust problem, mirror problem, (yes, that is a recall, but I think Canon Canada will only honor Canadian model, which lots of 5D here are US or HK etc model) dead pixel, slow processor, body wear and tear..  ( 5D body is just average ... not even as good as 40D/50D )

Well, good thing is ...  brand new 5D was only ~ $1800 1-2 yr ago, it's second hand price is still around $1500 for a good one!!!