I will go with what seems to be the crowd here. The D50 seems like it is more what you may want. The Maxxum line has buttons and dials galore, and seems a bit intimidating. Which is exactly the reason I haven't purchased it yet. It has typical features with better than typical access, but to a beginner, it may seem a bit much.

If you do happen to go that way though, let me know. I have a good set of Minolta lenses I may consider selling, possibly going to Nikon.

Lenses are:
28 f/2.8
50 f/1.7
28-100 f/3.5-5.6 (kit lens)
70-210 f/4 (older leica version)