Harry

Since you're just starting out, you ought not to meet your life companion yet. What I mean is that you should start a bit small, incase you end up ditching it after a while-- that way the hole in your wallet doesn't remind you every day what could have been. I would start on a basic squire or fender telecaster or stratocaster. Those are pretty reliable, look nice and are really affordable. The more you get into it, that's when you start looking for the beaut you always wanted.

For example, I've been playing for ages now... Started up about 6 years ago on a squire Telecaster. I'll admit, it was certainly not a top notch guitar, but it worked and sounded good. It wasn't until last year that I finally spotted the guitar I knew I was going to keep forever... picked an epiphone dot right off the wall. Again, affordable, but nice none-the-less. Try being cost-effective, I suppose is the moral of this. Don't go overboard on the first thing! There will come a time when you decide you need that $800 beauty