The best thing you can do is figure out what you want out of a camera first and then searching for cameras that match that need.
It is true that the "non DSLR Cameras" are becoming more advanced but most of these features are implemented in the DSLR variants and in some degrees better.
I usually see DSLRs as giving you much more flexibility, if you just want to be able to shoot video and don't care about the settings, then the point and shoot (PnS) cameras will cover you, if you want to be able to control your frame rate and exposure settings and focus, you are better off in a DSLR in most cases.
The same goes for exposure, the canon G12 gives you full control over iso and aperture and shutter speed, it doesn't have the focus speed or low light focusing ability of its bigger DSLR brothers but if that is not a requirement then why pay for something you won't use?
Also the more compact a camera is, the more likely you are to carry it with you. Having a DSLR with interchangeable lenses and possibly an external flash will definitely give you better image quality when used right, but you might not bother to carry it out with you and then the statement you hate is true "the best camera is the one you have with you" because now your camera is useless, sitting at home in a bag collecting dust.
I find my DSLR is always giving me far superior photos to a g12 in conditions where focus speed, low light performance or depth of field control are important factors. For snapshots and basic shots, there is nothing in it.
2 examples:
When I'm shooting at a party in low light with my DSLR, my external flash has a focus assist grid that means focusing is flawless every time and lightning fast and the quality of light from that flash is undeniably superior. A G12 will use its little assist light and blink and take a number of seconds to get focus and eventually fire. The flash giving you boring on camera flash light. If i strap a proper flash to it however, the experience is about the same, it feels ridiculously unbalanced but still, you can get that same quality of light.
If i put a g12 on a tripod and do a landscape photo, I can yield basically the same image of my big hulking canon 40d when all I am doing is shooting a scene without filters and so on.