Is Olympus E500 Digital SLR a good camera?

I have been looking for a digital SLR and keep leaning in the Olympus E500 direction. How does it compare to others in it's price range.

The E500 gets good reviews but it has two big drawbacks compared to the similarly priced (and highly regarded) Nikon D50:
* A tiny viewfinder
* A startup time of 1.7 seconds
If you compare the two brands in general, Nikon also gives you a much wider selection of lenses and accessories (in every price segment), and Nikon offers a better upgrade path for the bodies. In all, I think the D50 makes a lot more sense.

I chose an Olympus e500 after considerable research. I love it. It is slightly less cost (usually) than the Canon Rebel which was the other top runner for what I was looking at. I used eBay and a sniping service and got the camera, three lens, extra cf cards etc etc for around 500 bucks.
If you want to see some of the pictures I have taken with mine you can go to http://www.silvaspoon.net
On that site also, under travel/cameras you will find some links down the left hand column for outlets that usually have cameras on sale.
You do not say what kind of photography you intend, but the evolt series are a pretty good bet for most things. The truth is you can take a fantastic picture with a disposable camera off the rack if you know what you are doing.. it just makes it easier to have good equipment.

it's a great camera for the price - i would look at ebay and go for one of the refurbished kits they have posted. you can probably get the camera and lens for about $500. hard to beat that price.

on the other hand, there are a lot of better dslrs out there...if you're willing to spend $800 - $1000. my main complaint with my e-500 is the size of the viewfinder. the sensor is smaller than the the usual APS sized digital slr sensor, and the viewfinder is smaller too. i find it rather annoying since most dslr viewfinders are already too small. it makes it kind of hard to compose....but check one out, and if that doesn't bother you then go for it.

The canon rebel is well worth the extra bucks!

E500 is by far the best digicam in it's feature/price range. However the new 10 meg cameras by Nikon (D80), Sony (Alpha), Canon (XTi) , and my favorite Pentax (K10D) now are overpowering that price point.