Welcome to Pixalo! I think you've got it pretty much sussed out already. I'd buy the D80 and the 18-200 VR if I were you, it's a great starting point, and you'll have so much to learn that you wont feel like you need to upgrade for a fair while. It sounds to me (from the way you talk about your compact), that you've got to that stage where you realised what you've been using isn't advanced enough for you, so I'd upgrade
