Originally Posted by: rjgbourqueHi Josh, All,
You may also want to consider your finger strength. An acoustic (especially an inexpensive one) is going to be more difficult to fret. That's one of the reasons that I was told to practice with an acoustic early on, but it can be frustrating as well. With that in mind, majority opinion that you want to play what keeps you playing holds!

The 3/4 acoustics are amazingly easy to play. Last weekend I took my daughter to guitar center to pick out an acoustic guitar for her birthday. All of the ones we tried (Mitchell (she chose this), Laguna, and Yamaha) were amazingly easy to play. The sound leaves a bit to be desired to my ears, but that's not hugely important to start with.

Beginner guitars have come a long way.