jus,
One thing I think you should plan on....whatever you buy now, you'll probably trade in for something better a year from now. You'll get better by then and the boards you mentioned probably will not be adequate then. So buy with a couple of thoughts in mind....you will not get much for it to trade it in on a better one and so don't buy too much now budget wise, so you can't afford to step up down the road. Most of the boards you'll look at in your budget are all pretty ok, so pick out what sounds good and seems to be user friendly to you without the salesman's help. If you can sort of figure it out by yourself a bit, probably means you'll have an easier time with it.
Terry

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 09-10-2002).]