Hiya Mathew,
Definately go into a camera shop and ask to see and hold all the ones that you are interested in. I started out looking at a Canon 400/450D or Nikon D60 but having held them I the asked to look at the 40D and that’s what I ended up getting. It just felt so comfortable in my hand.
Let us know what you decide and good luck with it.
I went into Dixons and asked to look at Canon 400D /450D Nikon D60. I was disappointed at how small the 400/450 felt. I liked the feel of the Nikon ,it was a D80 they had. Anyway, I just asked to look at the Canon 40D to get a comparison and boy! the difference!!!!!!!
So, I ended up going into Gunns and buying the 40D with the EF-S 17-55 IS USM Kit :D Lovely shop and very nice people.
Can’t wait to try it out now -I’ll let you know how I get on :)