Digital Dilemma (Nikon 8700 vs Nikon D70)

Ever been in a Catch-22 situation?

Its funny how research can be very confusing when its supposed make things easy. For quite some time now, I have been reading up, ney researching on digital cameras.

Before I delve into the details, you should realise that I currently do not possess a camera and haven't been involved in any kind of photography - beginner/amateur/pro - sparing a few family snapshots taken with my dad's 35mm film camera. But I have this feeling that I can grow into a good photographer. That means I am looking up cameras like an enthusiast, and intend to grow into what I would call a "Professional Amateur" and no less.

Initially it all seemed pretty clear. I had a budget of $600-$800 chalked out when I embarked on my research. Realised soon that I could lay my hands on most of the new 8MP digi cams in the market. But on analysis, realised some inherent inconveniences and nuances with non-SLR cameras like speed, image quality, noise at higher ISO(especially with 8MP) etc.

Now I am the kind who would love to have only the bleeding edge stuff in my inventory. Haleleujiah!!!

That's when I started reading about amateurs and pros praising the dSLRs. And further reading only told me that dSLRs do have all the goodies I could ever want. Canon Digital Rebel ($1000) and the Nikon D70($1300) seemed to be the only ones that might be within reach (Are you crazy?? Thats $500 more than the budget). To make matters worse, every review I have read (read that as 50+), only tell you that dSLRs are better than prosumer cameras. What they don't tell you is - for a person like me, willing to make other sacrifices to get the best, but someone who is just starting out in photography; does the investment to the size of D70 justify itself, even if I had genuine interest in becoming a "Professional Amateur"???

Tough one eh? Amen! Albeit some tradeoffs like LCD, EVF, movie mode etc for OVF, performance, image quality (BTW, you can call me a semi pro in Photoshop and hence image quality is very important) I cannot decide which one to go in for from a monetary stand point. Most professional reviews out there are from dSLR/SLR fans. So you quite well know what to expect.

Ok enough is enough!! I have my choices narrowed down to two camera's:

Nikon Coolpix 8700 (Recently Nikon launched 8800 but no reviews yet)
Nikon D70

I guess its only a matter of time before I decide, my only hope being that I will not repent my choice in any way.

Any good Samaritan out there who thinks there is a way out is most welcome to pen down their thoughts.