[syee]

I'm looking to buy an Xsi in the near future and was wondering what a good starter lens would be? Should I stick with the kit lens (which I hear is OK for the money but far from being great), or go with something else? (I'm actually looking at the 17-85 IS which seems to roughly cover the same range - and appears to be the kit lens for the 40D).

Are there any difference between the two optics wise? (other than a slightly larger range and USM on the 17-85) Is the 17-85 a decent lens vs the Xsi kit lens? I've read reviews of each one, but haven't really seen any comparisons side by side so I don't really know what differences there are between the two.

Or should I just skip those two and go with something else?

I mainly do scenery type pictures, and I've taken an interest in night photography as well. However, right now I'm just looking at an all purpose lens that will suffice for 90% of the situations, and also nothing that will break the bank as I'm really just starting out in the DSLR and am trying to get a feel if it's a hobby I want to build on or not.