agree on the comparsion with cars
I am driving a 棍仔 Fit right now
will not even think about getting better car until I can drive better
same for my camera 400D/Xti
before I know exactly what I want in all my pictures, I will not upgrade the body
Let's be fair ... a Rebel vs a 50D for example, ... the Rebel is just lighter and have a (totally) un-friendly user Interface for manual control ... but the bottom line, both of them can have manul control over shutter, aperature, ISO, white balance etc ... as a beginner, he can still learn from it.
Extra options on the higher model doesn't quite matter in that regards ... just gravy IMO.