As a newbie myself, I followed the advice in these forums and stuck it out with a pair of binoculars for a couple of months before buying my first scope. Every month I'd go up to the local IIS viewing night (Cambroon) and look through the different scopes and learn more about what it was I was buying.
I had the same budget as you and in the end, stretched myself a little bit to get the 8" GSO Dob... and I'm very pleased with the choice.
That little scope and I will be together a long time.
Take your time, listen to these guys (and gals) advice and you can't go too far wrong.