Is the Olympus EVOLT E-500 Digital SLR a good camera to buy?

if you are going to go DSLR you should get the nikon D80 or D200. those are some of the best DSLRs on the market

olympus is a very good brand, so yes, this is a very nice camera, if you want to spend the money

yes it is a good camera to buy

It would be one of my first choice if I had to select an SLR.

GET THE NIKON L3

Yes, it's a good camera.
It has good quality images, pretty low noise, it's quite light and easy to carry (on the bad side, if you'll get into long exposure or long lenses you -will- need a tripod).

On the other hand, while it's balanced, it doesn't shine under any aspect, but then again it doesn't suffer severely under any aspect either.

bahhh buy a canon camera more options