Either a Canon, or a Nikon would be a nice buy.
Panasonic make some nice budget cameras too, especially in their superzoom range.
I was thinking of going the DSLR route, but I think in the end, the camera would be too bulky to move around everywhere I went. But that said, if had the money (there are some cheaper ones though), and really wanted to go towards the photography side of things (which I have thought about), I'd choose a DSLR, simply because you can't get anything better.
Looking at photos/videos took with the Nikon D90 is a sight to behold to be honest.