Which DSLR?

so after viewing the great photos I am more convinced than ever I want to graduate from my pocket sony...which will never leave my purse...to a larger slr camera.

I just don't know what type to get.

I hear good things about olympus, cannon and pentax.
Comments on pros and cons would be so appreciated!

I think before getting our opinions, you need to find out what you really want in a camera. Also holding all the cameras is a great thing to do as well. How the camera feels in your hands makes a big difference, if it isn't comfortable you won't like shooting as much. Go to a camera store, not a big box store like Best Buy, and ask them to let you handle all the different models. Of the three brands you mentioned I would ask to check out the Canon XTi, the Olympus e-510, and the Pentax K200D or the K10D. The K10D has more features and is cheaper, because the K200D is brand new last month, but it is a little higher line than entry level. I think checking out Nikon is good to, so the Nikon D80.

Do some research and decide what features are important to you, then we can better help you make a decision. Do you want stabilization? If so, do you want it in body, so every lens has it, or do you want to have to buy special lenses to get it? How many focus points do you need? Do you care about weather sealed bodies? What do you anticipate your lens needs being? Those are just a few things you need to think about.

There's a site called www.dpreview.com that reviews cameras. You might find some good info on there. I also agree with Travis that youneed to hold the different cameras and see which one feels most comfortable to you.

I have to ditto visiting dpreview.com. They have a cool "tool" where you can choose the features that are "must haves" for a camera for you and it will give you recommendations based on your criteria. Then you can look more in depth at the recommended cameras and decide which brand/model is best for you and fits in your budget!

(for me, I went with the Canon Xti- it fit my budget and had the main features I needed at the time! My next camera will be a Canon 5D).

I found this site to be particularly helpful when I was researching dSLRs:

www.myproductadvisor.com

I recently upgraded from a Sony R1 to a DSLR. My main reason was that I needed a camera that would focus faster and shoot quicker without delay (to keep up with the grandkids!) and still give me a high IQ for my landscape and travel pictures.
The choices are overwhelming, especially in the entry level. I selected the Olympus E-510 with the two kit lenses. My reason were size and cost. The package is available for $650 with the two lenses (14-42 & 40-150) which gives you a range of 28mm to 300mm equivalent for a standard 35mm film camera. The picture quality of all entry level cameras is pretty much the same, most have 10MB sensors which give you plenty of IQ.
Ultimately, most important is how the camera feels in your hands; if it's too large and heavy, you are less likely to take it with you and use it.

I also use dpreview.com. I find it very helpful in my last two cameras that I bought. Like everyone else has already said, it depends on what you feel is important! I personal love the Nokon models for the durabily and quality of the camea. That is not to say the other manufacters have bad cameras, only that the Nikon fits me the best for my needs.