I used to have a Seagull. It was the only new guitar I have ever bought. At the time I was planning on spending $700 or $800 on a moderately nice guitar. The $200 Seagull (this was a long time ago, they're now around $400) sounded and played better than the low end Martins and Guilds I was looking at.

Art and Lutherie guitars are also made by LaSiDo (along with Norman, Seagull, Simon and Patrick, and more) and is their very inexpensive, all laminate guitar. I borrowed one to take on vacation with me last year and was very impressed. For a $200 guitar, it played and sounded quite nice. Better than any other manufacturer's guitars I've played on that costs three times as much. If you like the dreadnought style, the Simon and Patrick is very good. They make some models that are just like the Seagull, but with the different body shape. They also make some solid wood ones with a gloss finish that are more expensive.

John