I am in the market for my first DSLR. The T3i was my first choice because it hit my price point. But B&H has a SL1 with 2 lenses for $600. From the reviews I have read the say it is basically a T5i in a smaller package.

Is the SL1 the right choice? I held one at the store the other day and didn't mind the size. Or is there something I am missing completely?

If you don't mind a camera being that small, you should be fine.  Based on the SL1 review at DPReview.com, and its side-by-side comparison, I would go with the SL1 for the newer tech based on these two choices.

Like computers, camera bodies come and go.  What you are buying into is a lens system.

How are the factory Canon lenses?

My advice is to go to a brick and mortar and hold/manipulate the DSLRs in your price range.  I handled nearly all the "entry" level DSLRs  and was able to ask the pertinent questions to a real person.  Try, if you can, to go to a real camera store, not BestBuy or Costco/Sams.

I ended up with the T3i for 2 reasons:  it felt best in my hands, and I have a really close friend that has 10s of thousands of dollars in Canon lenses.  I'll never own one of the L series telephoto lenses(the big white ones you see on the sidelines of football games) but I can borrow one whenever I need/want to

We have 3 Canons. T3i, SL1, and a 70D.

The SL1 is the nicest of the Rebels, if you don't mind the size. It is very small, but my wife loves that camera. She keeps a 40mm pancake on it and it takes incredible pictures. It has a better processor, slightly faster frame rate, better viewfinder, and a touch screen. All in all, it is a better camera than the T3i. The only downsides to me were the small size and the lack of an articulating screen.

The T3i is now with my teenagers.

Thanks guys. I went to the local store and it handled it but all the batteries where dead

Coming from the point and shoot world it is a big camera to me haha. But holding the rest of the line I can see how much smaller it is. I do a lot of outdoor stuff and the size would be nice.

I did notice the lack of rotating screen which would be nice to flip it around and keep it protected from getting scratched. I am going to try and find a local photo shop and get some real hands on.