Get a Canon D60 second hand? Or a second hand EOS 300D kit?
Batteries last forever, stick a 2 or 4 gig compact flash in and you're set!
That's my two pennies, here's a third:
As far as compacts are concerned, I can't really fault the bomb-proof Powershot s50 which is a total bargain second hand. Needs a spare battery though, but at the prices they go for it's easy to have three ;-)