I bought my Nikon FM10 in 2002. Before that, I had a Point-and-shoot camera and wanted to graduate to SLR. Since FM10 is from Nikon (well, atleast the brand) and had all the features required to nurture a beginner, I decided to buy this.
Some of the Pros:
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It is all manual. It encourages (forces?) you to experiment with manual settings like aperture, shutter speed, focussing, etc. So, the chances are that you’ll get to learn basics and may even master these basics faster.
It is sturdy, has metallic body. So, longer life compared to plastic case SLRs.
Quite affordable compared to other sturdy SLRs.
Once you have learned the tricks, the body could be used as a spare and to click portraits (where you can take your own time to focus and adjust the settings, etc)
Some of the Cons:
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Not good for clicking moving objects, as it is manual focus.
Standard lens (35-75 zoom) is not auto-focus enabled, so is almost useless if you buy a new autofocus body later.
Overall, it is a great buy and it has produced some of the best pictures for me. I still use this as my primary body.