Cool, so it sounds like you want to get pretty good quality images and are interested in more than just having a nice camera to take to a party and photographs of partying/friends/family sort of thing.
You don't necessairly have to buy an dSLR to do this. If you want to get seriously into photography, a dSLR is the way to go. However, keep in mind it can get insanely expensive. You'll probably pay around ~$800 for the entry-level Canon and Nikon (the two big players in dSLR market) for the body only. Then you have to buy lenses, which depending on the quality of the lens can be anywhere from $200 up to several thousand. And you'll probably want to have at least two lenses to get started, where you can get more specialized lenses as you go.
If you're looking for a starting good starting point you may want to consider the Panasonic Lumix series or the Canon Powershots (S series, I believe). These are not dSLRs but do come with a wide-range of manual controls and good quality lenses (the Panasonic in particular). These cameras are usually in the $600 range and are capable of taking very good pictures. If you really want to get into photography, you may find you outgrow the camera to quickly, in which case I would recommend either the Canon or Nikon SLR (I prefer Canon, but people argue passionately both ways). If you're still not sure its for you or don't want to spend the money requried to get into the SLR world right away, I would recommend either the Canon Powershot S series or Panasonic Lumix FZ series (I perfer the Panasonic, but again, arguements can be made both ways).
Hope this helps.
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