It depends
Recently I was deciding what new digital camera to buy. A friend of mine lent me his Canon EOS D1 Mark II with some high-end lenses. I lugged several 1000 $ of equipment and several kg’s around for one long weekend and was able to snap around 1000 pictures. This camera is incredible good, the picture quality is great, and the controls make so much sense (once you get used to using two hands to change anything). Clearly a DSLR is the way to go. Maybe not a D1, but an amateur version, maybe a D350 or a Nikon D70 or similar.
In the end I bought a Panasonic Lumix LX1. It’s noisy when using higher sensitivity than ISO 100. It’s not a pro camera. It doesn’t make me look macho when I shoot pictures. But it does exactly what it needs to do: It shoots pictures that are quite good, it’s lens is pretty good (and I like the 28mm equivalent wide-angle). It has a 3:2 aspect ratio like classic cameras and a 16:9 wide aspect. It shoots movies in DVD quality (720*484, 30 fps). Most importantly though, it rides with me in my pocket every day and I have it handy whenever I see an opportunity for a picture.
I would always have lusted after a DSLR. Now, after trying one hands on, I can say that I still would like one for the occasional shoot. But for 90% of my needs, the LX1 is the better camera. The key word? My needs. As with so many things, the best solution is the one that fits your needs.
Oh - and the results of my photographic amateurish adventures can be found on flickr