Yep, I quite happy with the camera. I picked it up off ebay cheapish when I put a scratch in my 20Ds sensor cover.
That was the first time I have been able to use it under dark skies, like you said it definitely gives a good feeling even if I should of been more methodical in my setup, take darks, etc...
I guess the jpeg thing just shows the camera is better than processing than I am.
I think you'll be real happy with the 550D