hey all,

I'm thinking of getting into photography for a hobby, could you make some reccomendations for a noobie set up?

thanks

I guess the first question that needs to be answered is what you want from the obsession....oops I mean hobby

I shoot Canon so I am biased towards them but others will feel the same about Sony, Nikon, Olympus etc....but I still think the first thing that needs to be addressed is what you want to get from the hobby and what you think you want to shoot (your kids if you have them, sports, wildlife, landscape etc) those things will help to dictate what direction you will be going ...and make sure that you understand that others will always have an easy time spending your money for you....so with that said you should have a budget in mind and if so that will go a long way in helping to recommend what to get in a needs versus would be nice to have sorta way.

After purpose, I'd put budget as a very close second, though admittedly that can be a bottomless pit, it will dictate what level you want to enter at.
If you're going DSLR , and if you're serious about photography that's the only way to go, decent camera bodies can be had for ~$500 up to thousands of dollars, but a $1500 budget can get you a very decent setup, less if you just want to start w/ one lens to practice and polish your techniques. As you shoot, need will dictate what other lenses you may add later.
Also allow ~20% for ancillaries, that is memory cards, bag(s), tripod/monopod, cleaning cloths, batteries (or an extra one if it's dedicated), etc..
As far as brand, as Keg said any of those 3 he mentioned will do a good job. Other brands are also emerging more and more as Pro style.
I always recommend going to a dedicated photo store as many will give you 10-14 days trial, plus the after purchase help, especially for a beginner, will more than pay for the price differential of buying on-line or at a big box store.
Here are some great sites for product info and reviews posted by Keg in another thread:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://www.dcresource.com/
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/
Lastly, have fun!
Anything else, let us know.