I came by my K10 similarly to pollito... except I'm a real gadget freak, so I research everything I buy exhaustively.
Once I decided I wanted to try an SLR, I pored over all the reviews, specs, forums, etc. I could find.
Looking at spec sheets, the K10 won hands-down unless I went up an order of magnitude in cost and sprung for a pro body from the big players. Even then, in-body IS is a big tick in the Pentax column. I like that my M42 lens from the mid-70s is stabilized
Then looking at the reviews, it seemed like the only consistent complaint was that the JPG image quality was a little lacking out of the box... and everyone admitted that this was easily fixed by adjusting a few settings.
Then the forums. Canon and Nikon boards were generally meaner and more focused on numbers... the Pentax boards were friendly, more cozy, and more focused on pictures.
Throw in a comparatively high-quality kit lens and 30+ years' worth of superb glass to research and hunt for... honestly, it's a gadget geek's dream come true
Every time I look up 'pentax' on Craigslist it's like hunting for buried treasure.