For the people that followed this thread:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/874500-inexpensive-beginner-acoustic-guitar.html
I decided that I wanted to play electric. I've been dinking around with the acoustic that I bought, and it was good. I injured a finger on my left hand recently, and I had a hard time fretting the acoustic. A few days ago it finally stopped bothering me to the point I couldn't play. I went to the local music shop to look at amplifiers, and ended up bringing this home:
It's a Gretsch G5435 Pro Jet. I don't know enough to say without a doubt, but of the guitars I played in my price range this was the best playing model. it doesn't hurt that I think it's sexy as hell to look at too!
I picked up a cheap Blackstar 10 Watt amp to mess around with for a while until I decide I need more amplifier.