When I bought my acoustic I gave myself a budget of 250-300, which is probably not far off what you're looking at if you want an electro. I looked at Yamaha, Ibanez, Fender, Epiphone and Freshman (guitarguitar) and went for a Freshman FA200D (it helped that the guy found me a used one for 180 quid while I was on the way to the till with the full price one :lol:). The freshmans trounced everything else on playability, and the 200D has a fantastic tone - only a yamaha I tried came near it, wonderfully rich and full for the money.
Unfortunately they don't to an electro version of the same guitar, but you could get a 250DCE (the next model up) within budget, or a cutaway model... I'd recommend looking at freshman, anyway.
I don't think avoiding anything is ever really a good idea when you're trying out guitars, but don't be upset if you can't get your hands on any epiphones or fenders. Just no tone to them.