Buying the right guitar

For a lot of guitarists intimidation is a factor that scares most novices from playing, and buying a guitar.  Lets say charlie has been playing around a year, but isn't that confident.  His grandpa takes him to a local music store, and tells Charlie he's going to buy him a new guitar.  Charlie just has to pick the right one out.  When charlie starts to play one of the guitars he feels intimidated buy other musicians that are better than him, and he never gets to play that guitar

On the flip side lets say Charlie has a cousin named Cody, and grandpa decides he'll buy a new guitar for Cody like he tried to do for Charlie.  They go in the store, and Cody gets a few guitars pull-in some hammers and throwing in some runs.  When looking for a new guitar its probably best to have Cody's attitude of not caring what other musicians might think of him, and showing the world what he can do.
When looking for a guitar I strongly recommend having an idea fo what your budget is.  You should be looking for the best guitar for the least amount of cash.  Look for the instrument, in the store, that appeals to you.  Ask for a stool and a pick (a lot of people usually carry a pick with them) to determine the guitars feel and sound fits to your liking.  To hear the guitars true sound play the same volume as you would performing for someone.  TIP: Listen for buzzing strings.  That's something you don't want!  

Go from store to store, and find the best guitars from each store and compare them.  Usually what it sounds like is more important then what it looks like, but that doesn't mean all the good sounding guitars are ugly.  Just go with your gut feeling on which one you think you want, and usually that will be your new guitar!