Originally Posted by
loty
As usual if your want to save money and not sacrifice quality getting a good brand lightly used bike is the best option. Bikes are built to last 20-30 and even more years so getting a nice 3-4 years old bike for 1/2-1/3 of retail price sounds like a no-brainer to me. For riding around town you can't go wrong with a hybrid bike from Trek, Canondale or Specialized - there are tons of them on eBay or your local Craigs List.
That would be my suggestion. Actually, any quality used hybrid or hard tail (no suspension) mountain bike made in the last 15 or 20 years in clean condition with either trigger shifters or grip shifters would be fine for a beginner.
In addition to the above mentioned brands, others to consider include Bianchi, Fuji, Giant, Schwinn (Careful here, some recent Schwinns are good, others not so good), Kona, Gary Fisher, Marin.
This is not an exhaustive list. I am sure there are other quality bike store brands that are worth checking out. I don't see a huge investment in any of these either. Maybe a basic tuneup, new tires and tubes and you should be ready to ride. You should find something for maybe half, maybe less, of what a new bike would cost.