technado

When deciding what to buy the most important thing to research are 1) which lens is appropriate for what you want to be shooting, and 2) are there a wide array of high quality lenses, including the one you need available for the camera body you choose. Lens focal length/range and optic quality are the keys. Expect to pay at least what you pay for the body for, as an example, a medium range portrait zoom lens.

Also your best shots are going to come from you being in control of the settings and not allowing the camera to make the exposure decisions by setting it and leaving it on 'auto'. Which means getting a book and learning about stuff like focal length, depth of field, f-stop and the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and depth of field.