I looked at this last month, and decided I'm not ready to carry a load of lenses with me, so I went for the other option and bought a Sony HX1 as it gave better results than the comparable Nikon in the reports I read.
It's a larger compact styled like an SLR with the adjustability of a DSLR i.e. Manual exposer, Aperture priority, shutter speed and full manual mode as well as full auto for point and shoot.
I can play with the expert modes and learn all about the effects with this, if I decide later that I'm going to be more serious at photography then I'd be looking at £1,500 to 2 grand for a full size DSLR setup in a year or so.