Flash Advice

[pulse]

I was wondering if i could get some advice from you guys. Basically, i have been into photography for a short while and i am now beginning to look for more ways to be creative with it. After doing some research (strobist.com etc.) i have been increasingly intersted in buying some sort speedlight/strobe setup.
Im looking for something that is small and portable (no umbrellas and that sort of stuff quite yet) just to play around with for now for general use. The SB-600 kinda caught my eye but im not really sure about it.
Is it compatible with my camera(E-510)?
Should i just use it on my hotshoe for now?
If i want offboard flash do i use just a pc cable?
Wireless system? (pocketwizard<----any cheaper solutions?)
If i want to upgrade camera body in future is this a smart choice?

Thanks for the help,

 

[tirediron]

The SB-600 is a Nikon flash; it will work with your Olympus body, but only in the most basic mode; in other words, you'll be wasting about $225, since you'll only get about $25 worth of functionality from it. Remember, like lenses, flashes are tailored to the brand of your camera body. Even third party manufacturers (Metz, Sunpak) build their flashes with specific modules for each body to gain maxium functionality. I would suggest looking at the Olympus FL-36R or, depending on your budget the FL-50R. These will give you wireless off-camera flash capability.