I've had two additional thoughts on this:
1) Nwoodgirl has a point. My first guitar was a dreadnought and I found it uncomfortable to play and I'm a 6ft tall bloke so its not necessarily a size problem. I now have a Taylor 314 which is a 'Grand Auditorium' shape, which I find more comfortable. Theres a grand concert size which is smaller again and I wish I'd tried one of those too seeing as I only play in the house, so loudness is a bad thing.
and
2) After I'd bought a guitar a guy who sits less than 10 feet from me told me he had a decent solid top acoustic at home I could have borrowed as he'd given up on it a few years back. Asking around the office I was amazed at how many guitarists (from competant to given up completely) there were. So, before you shell out, ask everyone you know if they have a guitar you could borrow for a month. If you have 3 offers, borrow each one for a few weeks each. Then you'll get an idea of what you do and don't like before you spend any money.
Let us know how you get on. I've been playing for 11 months and last night I said to my wife "theres two things you should know about my guitar - (1) I can't play it very well and (2) I love it" (my wife bought me 6 guitar lessons last Christmas and her family gave me money to buy a guitar, I hadn't actually asked for one, I'd just mentioned that it was something I'd like to learn so Cath thought it would be a nice gift).
