I went through this a couple of months back. As I'm not interested in the bluegrass sound, I wound up with a Kentucky oval-hole model (made by Saga). QUite reasonable sound, good intonation. I bought it from an internet vendor called Mandolin Hut--it came to $325(US)--226 GBP-- including a very nice hard case, an electronic tuner and some other goodies. I'm quite pleased with it.