Shock & Oar.

Wow, scorchio! A shock to the system I can cope with!

Here's some questions that I suspect there could be more than one answer to...
All my blips so far have been taken using a (good) compact camera, but I'm interested in buying my first DSLR.
Budget is an issue, but at the same time I want a camera that will last me a long time. (So maybe a good quality body with a budget lens to start with?)
If you use a DSLR, which one? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? What would you recommend?
Thanks!