hi all...thanks for all ur help.
anyway i've held onto alpha b4 and i loved it, i'm also a pro-sony consumer, but the fact that it produces noisy pics compared to D40 is a turn off for me. Sony's lens are also supposedly more expensive than other brands. Their horseshoe mounting for their external flashlights are also diff frm normal 3rd party flashlights so only sony's can be used on it. Due to the above, I've striked off the idea of getting it.
As for D40, i understand its an entry level SLR so its features are sort of limited. Eg. being 6mp, 3pt foucus, only being able to support AF-S lens if i want AF (a canon sales man told me even if its AF-S lens, only half are suitable). Others also mentioned some other features are absent. If i were to get another SLR after 2 yrs, i might get D40, but unfortunately i'm planning to use it for like 4yrs if possible, so this cam is most prob out.
Lastly i saw reviews on eos400 which was compared with alpha n d80 and its ranked in between where d80 was ranked 1st. The package sold on canon's roadshow today was quite good I think ($1669 with 18-55mm lens, one 1gig cf card, one 2gig cf card,1 calibrator, tripod,dry box, screen protector, filter, ef lens workbook) seems like a good deal. Shld be gettng it when there is another roadshow.
Thats what i conclude frm my days of work...like i was told, I can never go wrong with any SLR, just have to keep practising.:sweat:
Thanks once again for all the comments given