what model should i get?

1) Go to guitar shop, pick up guitars, learn about weight, shape and feel. Some electrics are seriously heavy/uncomfortable.
2) Avoid Fender and Gibson - expensive. Avoid Squier - cheap. Check out Yamaha, Ibanez, Lag, Tokai...
3) Ask to try out some guitars, don't try to play anything fancy, just listen for a good sound.
4) Look to buy a basic 10W practice amp; volume, tone, overdrive/gain.
5) If you really want crazy metal effects a Line6 Pod or Vamp2 will burn away the hours.
6) Consider starting with an acoustic, they have an easier learning curve but it's a matter of taste, if you've gotta rock....

i've got a squire stratocaster that i got a few years ago, personally found it to have a good sound for the money, and it was good to learn on.
Ive played the real cheapo walmart guitars and i would strongly reccomend NOT to go that way, sounds rattly and buzzy and crap.

All You Need is Love

I agree. My first guitar was a "First Act" (read WALMART Guitar) and it was the biggest drawback in my progress.
The pickups were horrible, the strings were horrible, the action was horrible, the tone of the guitar was horrible.
It was great to learn on for the first 2 weeks but I outgrew it so fast there was a sonic boom.

If you only have 100 dollars to spend, Start out with a quality guitar for that same money. Buy Agile.

Dm

Keep in mind that a bad sound is one of the easiest ways to get discouraged from playing..... and i've tried several different models and even a couple of different instruments from the walmart first act guitars and i didn't care for any of them.
Besides that the whole company doesn;t even seem to know ANYTHING about the guitar... do you think thier strings come in different guages? NO. Do thier picks come in different thicknesses? NO. Do thier amplifiers have proper distortion and overdrive switches? NO..... tust me these people don;t know anything about the guitar they're just making money off of people. They're more the spoiled rich kids that WANT aguitar cuz its cool but dont have any intention of learning it

All You Need is Love

Amen! I second every single thing that you said "Last Rebel".
If my wife hadnt' bought me that first act guitar I would have given it away by now.

Dm

i got a squier telecaster. its custom and costed around $500 but i love it to death. i dont know your price range. but im a telecaster man. i got an epiphone les paul. not that good. if your getting an epiphone, i really like the epiphone SG. my friend has one. its pretty nice. I would not recommend b.c. rich or ibanez. amp wise, Line 6 all the way for me. easy to get used to and still good to use as a pro. any tone you need its got it. i got my 30 watt one for $199

You are so right last_rebel!!  I have friends that purchased really cool-looking guitars and really good guitars and they never learned how to play them.  But they are all about telling people what they have, thinking it makes them seem cool.  I have fairly good equipment now, but I started out with many, many crappy guitars and amps (and acoustics) 'cos I couldn't afford anything else.  There's a lot of great info here and it basically comes down to what you want and like.  Do go play some...or if you are not comfortable playing at your local shop, then hold one, hug it and fret it...try to see what you "feel" about the guitar.  If you find one that feels good to you, then you are going to play it when you get home, no matter what it looks like and no matter what brand it is.  There are a lot of cheap, well-made guitars out there that will do your playing justice.  Find what you like and what feels good to you.  There is always time to upgrade when you get better.

Good luck finding your ax and good luck finding your happy-place.

Gibson Les Paul Studio (customized) * Epiphone Zakk Wylde Custom Les Paul "Camo" * Breedlove 6-string acoustic * Takamine 12-string acoustic/electric * Line 6 Spider III 212 150 * Line 6 FBV Shortboard * New tight skin-toned colored Spandex and matching thong *