The way I look at it. For me a great camera has to take good pictures of people and give me good Jpegs. The Sony Alpha does. I have the Nikon 200 and it is a fantastic camera after processing in Raw. But pictures of people in Jpeg are downright awful. Too warm skin tones too start and the image size is small.
I like the cooler skin tones of the Alpha and the nice saturation of colors and the image size is about right. To me a good camera needs to provide me with excellent jpegs because you can always create better pictures in Raw no matter which camera.
I have only positives for this camera. I have just bought my third camera, the Fuji Pro S-5 and I can't wait to try it. Is supposed to take great people pictures.
Sony - 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit, Alpha is recommended by Avion
For superior DSLR images, step up to Sony. With Sony, anyone can shoot like a pro. The Alpha DSLR-A100 SLR camera combines 10 megapixel performance, high-sensitivity shooting, Super SteadyShot in-camera image stabilization, a Dynamic Range Optimizer ( DRO ) to recapture detail and the Eye-Start for faster response. The camera also features precision Sony and Carl Zeiss lens systems and Minolta A-mount lens compatibility. Compatible with Sony SAL-75300 telephoto zoom lens (Sears item 41436) - see optional items tab.