If you can afford the difference, I'd recommend the D200 for three obvious reasons. Higher megspixel count means higher quality images and fewer limitations. The fact that it's almost two years newer technology. And older non autofocus Nikon lenses will meter, which they won't with the D70.

if you can afford the D200 it makes a lot more sense...

not so much for the MP as for the features. The D200 has so many essential feature differences vs the D70 that it makes the D70 look downright stripped down. The D200 is so close to being a D2X that its pretty near impossible to justify the $5000 price tag for a D2X when you could buy two D200s and several TOP SHELF lenses for the price of the D2X back

i wouldnt fret on the MP too much.. to make native 8x12's @300 dpi you need 8MP. To make native 11x16's @300 DPI you need 16MP.. essentially they are the same camera in terms of output. you wont notice any difference....despite the marketting hype. BUT the D200 does have some superior D/A converision and much friendlier firmware. It also costs nearly twice as much

as for being too much camera...well either camera can funtion fairly well as a point and shoot if you insist on it. Both have gobs of preset modes that take all the fun out of it:-).. from a user standpoint i dont think you will notice a difference between the cameras in user friendliness. Gone are the days when a camera had an aperture adjustment, a shutter speed dial, an ISO setting and a focus ring. ....and that was it...

I would go for the D200. If you spend it now you will be happier longer before the need to upgrade. Monte johnson.

Thanks everyone so much for the advise. I was leaning toward the D70 but I agree I think it makes more sense to go with the D200. Knowing me I would probably be trying to trade up to the D200 pretty soon after getting the D70 anyway. Now I just have to find one. The camera shop here said I could get on a waiting list, maybe I will try the internet. Thanks again.
Heather

I went with a D70, but am thinking about selling it to get a D200.

Depends on what you want to do with it I guess...

But isn't that the point of going for the higher resolution camera? You're not limited in doing what you want to do with it.

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Depends on what you want to do with it I guess...

Agreed. My point was more along the lines that if you are looking to take pics of your vacation, the D70 would be great...if you want to SELL those pics, you may want to up yourself to the D200 for the additional resolution.

Look at it this way. I purchased the D70 and used it for short amount of time. I haven't use it in about a year (and will be selling it shortly on eBay) because I was not satisfied with the image quality compared to my - CoolPix 5000. Not that the CoolPix was better, it's just that the difference wasn't worth the increase in weight and size. The only reason I found to use the D70 was if I needed a telephoto lens, like to capture my neice in a swim meet. That was the point where I stopped recommending bottom of the line DSLR cameras to my clients. It's too limiting in what you can do with the file. This is especially important for beginner photographers who might be limiting themselves right out of the box, instead of purchasing a camera they can grow into.