just check out one of the good, but also not too expensive companies:
ibanez, shechter, epiphone and stuff.
the best would be to test some guitars (don't forget that you have unlimited time to test guitars in a shop - don't hurry) and decide which one of them feels the best for yourself. The tone, the optics (for motivation) and the body are all important criterias. The choice gets smaller for left-handed people, but that shouldn't be a problem. A left-handed friend of mine even started to play the other way around now, so that he can use guitars at other peoples places too
