Yeah... he said cutaway style ACOUSTIC/electric... As in an acoustic with an electric jack... not acoustic OR electric...Your best bet would be to stick with the main guitar makes Gibson (Epiphone) and Fender (Squire). You're obviously not going to be able to go out and nab a Gibson for under 500 dollars... However, Fender makes some nice acoustic/electrics for not too much. Have a look at the Fender acoustics on musiciansfriend.com and sort them by price so that you can see which ones you can afford. Also... as said before... the price tag is usually an indication of quality. But, since you're a beginner it won't matter as much. Once you learn how to play the guitar well enough you will be able to enjoy a quality instrument... For now, just get one and learn how to squeez all the tone you can out of it. I started on an old Fender acoustic dreadnought... it's decommishioned now because a frat party got a little rowdy one night and I had to bash it over someones back. I repaired it but I don't ever play it. Good luck and enjoy the experience