New Camera

I decided to get myself a little something for my 32nd birthday. Wow, 32... Let's not dwell on that. Anyway, I want to order a new digital SLR camera!  I'm trying to look for a good buy, but I'm not too keen on all the tech specs. If anyone has any input about a really good model, please enlighten me. I was looking at the Canon Rebel XS, but someone said that it's an overpriced camera that's not any better than the one I have. Currently I have a 6 year old Panasonic Lumix. Not sure on the model (too lazy to look). I get these errors sometimes when I turn it on. It says to turn it back off and on again which almost never works so I get mad at it and hit it and that works. The abuse must stop. What about this one? It's a Sony Alpha A230Y. It looks like it could do some cool things and capture my crochet stitches in all it's beauty. Help...

image from amazon.com