As a newbie to the uke myself I can't advise you terribly well, but I just picked up a cheap and colourful mahalo uke at the local music store for around $30 and I am getting on great with it! It has gear tuners so it doesn't fall out of tune very easily and it has a nice little sound, is very easy to use and a beautiful colour!
I think anything buy Kala, Lanikai, Oscar Schmidt would make good quality starter ukes. I'm also starting out and had the chance to check them all out. They (all) also make good mid level ukes IMO.
IMO (again) buy the best uke you can afford and it will make learning/playing easier.
I went with the Kala KA-STE-c (a bit pricier) and am very happy with it.
I'm new to the Ukulele myself well i'm waiting for it to be deliverd (Damn u slow mailman!!!)
and all i can give you for advise is; think really good about your purchase.
I've been browsing for weeks (without exaggerating at least 3weeks) and looking at different ukulele reviews
till i finally bought one. and a great site who helped me is http://ukulelehunt.com/
I'm not saying that the ukulele u have ur eye on is a bad one, don't get me wrong!
But i want u to be sure about the Ukulele u buy because if it doesn't feel good or if u regrett buying the Ukulele u will buy
u wont be so motivated to play it