I work in a Camera store and I'm a bit of a gear head. I've seen a couple of questions about gear in people's journals on here so I figured I would give some people some resources.
I have read a few things that makes me think i have a different opinion about gear then other people. Most of what I have read suggests that gear doesn't really matter, if you give any gear (cell phone camera, point and shoot, dslr) to a good photographer and they will give you good pictures, and if you give a bad photographer the best camera ever you'll probably get very little. In fact they might not even know how to use the best camera ever.
However, gear makes a difference for photographers who know what they are doing. The key is to know what you want and what you want to do with your photography. Then you can narrow down what kind of gear you might need, fast lenses, fast shutter speed, what does the camera feel like in your hand, what kind of focal length do you like to use?
Really what you need to do this test out what you like, do your research here [link] or any other review site (and remember that all these sites are kind of biased, but the info is mostly good.) And remember that buying good gear is not a mistake especially if you are going to use it.