Just lost my whole damn post.
Let me start over:
Adorama has good prices and I've always been happy with their service. Amazon is also a good resource, as is Buy.com. Never had a bad experience with either of them.
Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ has a really handy side-by-side comparison tool that let's you compare cameras feature-by-feature. Beware the forums though, as technophiles troll relentlessly, arguing all day that it's worth an extra $2,000 to have ISO 2000. I kid obviously, but some of those guys just tweak me the wrong way as they seem to have no concept of return on investment.
I really can't speak highly enough about the D40. Last check on Amazon had it going for $470 shipped with the surprisingly good 18-55 mm kit lens. A D80 will run you close to $800.
What's the extra $300+ get you over the D40? Mostly added weight and bulk. It also gets you 3 FPS vs 2.5, and ISO as low as 100 as opposed to the "paltry" ISO 200 of the D40. You can also adjust EV in 1/2 step increments as opposed to the 1/3 increments of the D40.
If you want to haul a bigger, heavier, bulkier camera around all so you can have ISO 100 and an extra .5 FPS, then be my guest.
Personally I took the $300 I saved and put it towards the excellent 70-300MM VR.