Are their any Canon Rebel Users here?
I don't own a canon rebel, but I have used one (both the 300D and the 350D) many times. I have also used their competitors.
I am thinking of investing in a real camera.
Don't get caught up in the hype. Take the time to look at some of the great options available to you. This is a great time to be looking at a new DSLR.
I have been using a Minolta Demage g500 for the last three years and the thing is starting to take really blurry pictures.
Cameras don't get old and start to take blurry pictures. Something must be mechanically or optically wrong with the camera. It could be something that could be fixed inexpensively. Then you could keep using it (as a backup) or sell it on ebay.
if users of the XTi saw any difference between the XTi and the XT. It seems to me that the only difference between the two is one is self cleaning and the other isn’t.
The big difference as far as I can see is the LCD. The tiny little LCD on the other rebels is a pain (if you've ever used a camera with a good LCD). Finally canon have seen fit to put a big LCD on the 400D (XTi). That alone would make me buy the XTi over the older rebels.
You spend a lot of time looking at your pictures through this LCD. A bigger one makes a big difference.
As for the dust removal, I have heard some concern that the dust removal shakes the low pass filter, not the sensor. If dust were to get between these two layers (unlikely) it might be impossible to remove?
A lot of the new "innovative" features of this model, however, are concepts that Canon "innovated" right off their competitors cameras. 
I'm not saying don't buy one of these Canon cameras - they are good cameras. I'm just suggesting you look at the other very capable cameras out there and see if one doesn't fit your needs better than either of the rebels.
I would suggest you look at Dpreview.com and do some careful comparisons of cameras in this price range.
I would suggest you compare:
Canon XTi
Canon XT
Nikon D50
Nikon D70s
Sony alpha 100
Olympus E-500
Pentax K110D
Konica Minolta 5D (if you can find one, they are heavily discounted right now since Sony took over the camera part of Konica Minolta. It is still a safe bet, however, because all of the new sony stuff and 30 years worth of older minolta AF stuff will fit it and work on it)
All of these are very competent and capable cameras. You won't get better pictures with one over the other, in spite of what inexperienced people might tell you. They all take good pictures. There are differences between them, but you have to decide which matters to you.
For example, Canon's CMOS sensor performs better at higher ISOs than some of the CCD cameras, but will you shoot at 1600 ISO? Or could you take the same shot at 200 ISO if you had an image stabilized camera instead (which canon doesn't offer)?
I'm not sure about the E-500, but some of the older Olympus produced rather noisy images. Again, dpreview will tell you.
The real thing is how comfortable you will be using the camera. How do you know? You hold one in your hand and try it. Each camera has a different feel and each one puts different features in different places. Some of them make the features you might want to use very accessible, others bury them in down 3 levels of electronic menus.
I know this because I have held all of these (except the XTi) while I was camera shopping for a gift for someone. I won't tell you which one I chose, because that isn't relevant.
Compare the prices of lenses and accessories in those camera lines. Nikon lenses are good, but they are often more expensive than equivalent lenses in other lines. And research shows they aren't "better", they are just more expensive. Then again, they make some really nice camera bodies.
The last comment...people will tell you buy brand X because there are more lenses/accessories available. I don't own one of the Big 2 brands, yet I have 11 lenses and 2 flashes sitting on the shelf next to me. There isn't a single lens I want that isn't available to me. Yes, Canon and Nikon make more options, but most of those options are ones I wouldn't ever buy, so what's the point?
This seems like a lot of information, I'm sure. But think about what you are doing. You are starting on a commitment to a camera line. Hopefully you will maintain interest in photography and want to buy other lenses over time. And eventually you will want to upgrade/replace your camera body if 5 or 10 years. Don't get stuck in a line you don't like/can't get because changing brands later is very expensive.
Just my thoughts.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas
