Hi there,
More free, and probably irrelevant, guitar advice here. First of all, don't get hung up on name brands. Many people are very dedicated to a certain brand like Martin, Gibson, Taylor, etc. but I say that you should get a guitar that sounds good to you. There are lots of old and new brands that nobody has ever heard of that are wonderful. The second thing would be to look for good tuners, they have to hold the strings at the tension you select without you having to mess around with them all the time. Also it is probably a good idea to invest in some kind of electronic tuner (nobody can tune the B string). Lastly, the soreness in your fingers and the pain in your fingertips will eventually pass.