With most beginners and budget minded guitarists looking for a quality rock guitar at an entry level they can afford, most guitar manufacturers and music stores supply this market with Cheap Guitars for Beginners, but very few turn out to be a real value or pleasurable to play. In fact other than there fancy paint jobs most cheap guitars seem designed to disappoint you with lack luster features, terrible action (even with the lightest gauge strings), or intonation problems.
Though you should never expect exotic grade A woods or the most expensive custom tuners to be used in the manufacturing of an entry level electric guitar (because it's just not going to happen), some guitar manufacturers work very hard to strike a balance between price break, features and playability.
One affordable entry level guitar I've had the pleasure of playing was my brother's Johnson Catalyst. With a quilted maple top, locking Floyd Rose tremolo, dual Humbucker pickups, and the kind of intonation and action I'm always looking for but rarely find. It truly is an instrument! When he told me he bought it online for under 300 dollars with free shipping I was very impressed to say the least.
The two other affordable entry level guitars I've heard quite a few good things about is the Cort x6 and the Cort EVL K2. Both have double locking tremolos and humbucking pickups in the 300 hundred dollar price range. Both have been said to have good action and intonation plus you get a whammy bar.
