^trust me, it's not so bad carrying it around. i have a canon S5iS which is the same body type and even though at first it was a bit odd to not have a compact camera, I got used to it after a while. Just make sure to have a nice big purse :)
im giving up my primary dslr soon and was hoping to downgrade to things like the original one u mentioned.. sx10.. used S2, S3 before.. rebel series got my eye at time of buying my dslr..