I have always wanted to own an DSLR ever since my passion for photography flared up.

That will soon become reality as my father has said that he will buy me one. The problem is what DSLR? I'm deciding on Nikon and Canon. The d80 and the 40d or the 400d respectively. I want to cross out the 400d as my friend has one already and she said that she doesn't want someone with the same camera as hers. * she might do something evil* So I'm deciding on the other two. If the budget doesn't permit the two, the d40x is the one. But since the budget is not yet known,

WHICH IS BETTER, THE NIKON D80 or the CANON 40D?

I know I have a lot of professional photographers as my contacts in multiply and I value your opinions. =)