I started out the the XT and it's more than enough for most uses. The only reason pictures would be grainy would be if they were shot in low light at a high ISO setting.
I could take pictures with both my XT and the 40D and you wouldnt be able to tell which picture came from which body. It's a decent deal cause of the 75-300 (kinda slow focusing and pretty useless in low light and without a monopod at full zoom) but the XT is VERY capable.
I'd give him 250 considering you can get a refurb from Canon for 275 now. Spend the 80 bucks to get the EF 50 f1.8 II and you'll love the camera.