Relatively inexpensive SLR digital

We have a P&S Olympus 5.1MP digital. Works just fine for most stuff. But my wife is into scrapbooking and the more pics she takes the more she complains about the latency of the camera, as in it's always late for a shot.
So with the holidays coming up, I was thinking of stepping up. Are prices becoming more reasonable? Is it still up to one's definition of reasonable? Can I spend $250 or $300 and get a good digital SLR yet? Is it a waste of money at that level? Just curious.

The only real advantage to an SLR is lens interchangeability. If that feature is not critical there are many fine cameras available that will suit her needs and fit into your wife's purse - like the canon digital elph. or the new E-1.

size really isn't the issue. But you bring up a good point.

I wouldn't bother with trying to find a low end Dslr if you can even get one for that range. I'd look at P&S and consider the following features (I assume for scrap-booking she mostly into people shots and such?)

fast startup time
6-8 Mpixel (anything higher is pointless for anything up to 8x10 or scrap-booking) the more you pay here for more mega, the less you get somewhere else
batteries, rechargable or off the shelf, how long does it last between charges/replacement)
Image stablization/face recognition
size
placement of controls (this a big one in my book)
ease of use, ( see above ) if it takes you too long to remember what does what each time you use it, well,... lots of shots get missed..
zoom, stay away from Digital, opical only no more that say 6x
lens quality
size and image brightness of view screen again this is a BIG one in my book

play with them in the store to get a feel, better yet to a camera store rather than a discount or "electronics" store, they tend to me more knowledgable and give you greater freedom to play with it and take over by a window to check the brightness of the view screen, etc.

RM

go wwwwiiiiiiiidddddddeeeeeee

Critical Feature to look for:

If you do go for a P+S style camera (and there is nothing really wrong with that) spend a few extra bucks for a camera that has a wide angle in the 28mm (equivalent) range. I would estimate 85 to 90% of the cameras out there start in the 35mm wide angle range. While it is still "wide angle" you will thank yourself for getting the extra 7 or so mm. It is great for interior shots, landscape etc when the 35-38mm typical range is just not quite enough. It will come in especially handy for travel.

For regular shooting with an end product being a 4x6 print or even up 8x10 these little compacts are truly amazing and versatile.

FWIW, I used to sell cameras at a high end camera store to put myself through school. In addition to my regular DSLR (NIKON) gear I have a pair of P+S cameras.

You can see just about any review here:
http://www.dpreview.com/

Although there are plenty of great compacts out there my gut advice would be to straight to Canon for a compact (and again, I shoot primarily Nikon). As mentioned above, the Elph series is one of the Planet's most popular.

I hope that helps.

Further to my above post

For example, see here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sd880is.asp

You'll note most of the compact offerings are 35 to 38mm. This one is 28mm. Worth it.