SLR advice needed

[colmo]

My neighbour has an A2 photo printer that he said I can use, but I have no idea which model it is, I think it's an Epson and cost him about £900.....

Epson 3800 unless I am very much mistaken - actually works out as a better deal than the A3 Epsons due to the amount of ink you get with it!

I was going to use Snapfish for larger prints, so thought the extra resolution may count..... perhaps not though.

Snapfish and the like are good for large quantities of smaller prints. For enlargements, DS Colourlabs are very cheap for sizes up to 18x12. Over that, your neighbour's very generous offer can't be beat - he surely wants reimbursement for materials? The cost of printing A2 adds up, especially if you use good paper.

I just wanted to make sure that I didn't spend £250 on a camera body only to find that I should have spent £400 (which I can afford) and regret not doing so. I like getting the best 'bang for buck' in general......

I think we've all been circling around the point that highest possible image quality is obtained through a combination of camera image quality (this includes resolution, metering and focus accuracy), lens resolution (ideally at the sharpest aperture, usually f8 or so) and photographer technique (including using a good tripod for critical sharpness). Any serious weakness in one of these, and it lets down the overall result - a few megapixels here or there is only one variable amongst many.

Don't skimp on the lenses, but remember, you don't have to buy new; Ffordes and Mifsuds, to name but two dealers, have a reasonable selection of used glass. Remember that you'll change camera bodies a lot faster than lenses.

[ACiD303]

that will sort out the weight and grip

It depends, the 400D's standard right handed grip doesn't have much room for fingers (I found, at least) - whereas the 30D design is a perfect fit to mine. I've used the battery grip on a 400D body, and it does sort out weight problems, but no so much the grip...