1. Buy from the cheapest, reputable dealer out there. Dell has some good deals every once in a while if you check out slickdeals.net or headlinedeals.com If not just use pricegrabber.com and get it from a reputable dealer. B&H has the Rebel XT body only for $630 right now.
2. What do you need? Your gonna need good lenses which will cost a lot of money. Lenses range from $300-$10k
If you want something real good you'd spend around $1k for good glass. Other then the lens you'll need a good bag, cleaning supplies, blower, large and fast memory cards, tripod, and maybe a good flash later down the road.
3. I have no idea why one color would be different, nor have I ever seen this
4.
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...splay.php?f=80
It's honestly an extremely expensive hobby, that you should do some researching prior to investing in it. It's not as easy as buying the camera, memory card and bag. The old saying for detailing applies here too, process > product, but you'll quickly want better equipment, if your this interested in photography. Not to many people buy dSLRs for snap shots, and if you do your better off suited with a "prosumer" camera.