Are you sure it's a DSLR you want? There are now DSLT cameras (primarily Sony - permanent non-moving semi-transparent mirror) and EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens - modern day rangefinders where the composition is made on screens or electronic viewfinders straight off the sensor).
Each perform different jobs well. The DSLTs, smaller than DSLRs as there is no prism, are excellent for shooting video as they utilise superior focusing techniques, have no mirror slap (a slight problem in long exposures for DSLRs) but have no optical viewfinder (though the OVFs on cheaper DSLRs are crap anyway). The mirror loses 1/3rd of a 'stop' of light, which in practice is a fair trade considering the light sensitivity of modern sensors.
EVILs are great because they're so small - for holidays, I love my Sony NEX 5 (can be had for £312 with lens, the slightly newer C3 is £400 or so), which pushes Leica digital rangefinders (£4k body only) close for image quality. Fuji, Olympus and Nikon all have similar efforts too, though I believe the Sony is the market leader of that particular camera type.
My pick for a jack of all trades camera right now would be the Sony A77 (24MP, 1080P video at 60FS, 12 frame burst shooting, weather sealed), though at £1500 or so with lens, maybe a tad steep to start!
For the more traditional DSLR, I'll leave the Canon and Nikon shooters to advise you, I don't really keep up with those. They possess a superior range of lenses to Sony (especially expensive telephotos, which folks may hire). Pentax released the well regarded K-5 not long ago too. Sigma and Tamron have an excellent range of cheaper lenses for most mounts.
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