my advice:

start with acoustic first. you get what you pay for, but i would recommend getting a starter pack from http://www.musiciansfriend.com they range from like 150-300 depending on what you want.

if you are on a budget, go to walmart, get the first act brand for like 60-90, but make sure to buy new strings (but not from wal mart)

if you get strings, i would get either lights or medium to start.

the acoustic is a little bit harder to play, but it is not as sensitive, so sounds better while you are learning. that, and when you do go to electric guitars, it will be easier for you to make the transition.

good brands include gibson, fender, squire, martin, epiphone, etc… you cant go too wrong with acoustics for starters…

to learn, it helps to either have an instructor, or someone who knows how to play to help you along. i never got formal lessons, but had a good friend that showed me a few things…

also, download the powertab program, just search for it, then go to http://www.911tabs.com to find the music you want to play.

play slow, then accurate before you try to play it at speed.

good luck and enjoy!!!

Decent beginner acoustic instruments to look for: Yamaha, Washburn, Ibanez, Blueridge, Alvarez, Epiphone. Expect to spend about $300 for your first guitar. You can order them online from companies like musiciansfriend.com, or elderlyinstruments.com. Personally I wouldn’t buy any musical instrument without trying it first so I wouldn’t buy on line, but that’s me. A reputable online dealer will take the guitar back if you get it and decide within the first 48 hours or so that you don’t like it.

But I would check out the local music shops in your area before buying online; that way you can actually look at, hold and try out the instruments before you decide which one to get. Bring a guitar playing friend with you and get him or her to play a couple of different instruments while you listen with your back turned, to see which one you think sounds best. If you don’t have a guitar playing friend, get one of the sales people in the store to do that.

Contrary to what Daniel says – I don’t recommend buying a guitar from Wal-Mart. Or Best Buy, or any other store that isn’t specifically a musical instrument dealer. The instruments for sale at Wal-Mart and Best Buy are cheap crap. A guitar purchased from a reputable music store will be properly set up to play and sound its best before you get it. A cheapo guitar-shaped-object from Wal-Mart will have been taken out of the factory shipping box and put on the shelf, as-is with no set up at all. You won’t be happy with it. If you can’t afford anything better than a Wal-Mart cheapo, wait and save your money for a real guitar instead of buying one of these.

As Daniel says, Gibson and Martin are very good guitars, so are Guild, Taylor, and Ovation – but they’re pro quality instruments and much more expensive than the beginner guitars – you can easily spend $1,000 or more (sometimes a LOT more) for guitars in this price range. But you’ll get a really good instrument that with proper care, will last a lifetime.

Fender is mostly known for their electric guitars but does make acoustics. The Fender acoustics aren’t bad as beginner instruments, AFAIK.

For a starter guitar I like the Yamaha acoustic, they have learned to make them a lot better then they did years ago…I don’t like to recommend a guitar to anyone…I feel that everyone likes a different sound and action…so my advice to you is go to where your going to buy your guitar and play them…to see what has the sound and action that YOUR after nobody else….as we all like a certain sound and action, if I were to tell you what to by you may not like it…so to most of my students I recommend the Yamaha I always tell them to go and play it and all the others first !!!!!!! As for price….one that I played and thought was cool was $200.00 and even less when it’s on sale….plus at Guitar Center you can ask for a deal and they give you a break !!!! Why not look over some guitar sites and see what you think….not many are free anymore…the first ones are free :
http://www.freebasicguitar.com/
http://www.abclearnguitar.com/
http://www.guitar.about.com/
http://www.learnhowtoplayguitar.com/
May Cost, or they give a few lessons and then want you to buy Cd’s, DVDs, videos, or have on line lessons which are pretty good !!!!!!!!
http://www.guitarchordsmagic.com/
http://www.billbrutal.com/
http://www.8notes.com/ (click on guitar)
http://www.stringdancer.com/ (this one has a free electronic tuner on their homepage….right hand side)
http://www.learn-to-play-guitar-online.info
http://www.justinguitar.com/
http://www.worldguitar.com/
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/
I hope that you find something here that will get you started… you can also go to youtube…they have lesson on there….good luck to you….bye !!!!!!!!