Why not an older Sony NEX-3 if it's budget, the NEX-5 was a stepping stone, and I'm drooling hard at the NEX 7 for my next step up from as a Prosumer mid-sized body without going full on DSLR.
google the NEX series from Sony, they're pretty awesome for a compact body with full sized features, heck the NEX 7 has a 24.3 meg pixel full sized sensor in a mid sized body I believe.