Sorry to be that guy, but there's so much to playing a musical instrument and developing as a musician, I'm not sure how to give a good answer. I'll just list some good sources that will give you good advice:
1.) igutar magazine (online magazine, free, good for visual learners BUT you might feel out of your depth with some lessons, like Mike Casswells current columns, which are more geared to people with aspirations to be session guitarists (whole other level of dedication and skills). All the lessons will at least make you more aware of possibilities though. It's just a bit overwhelming for beginners)
2.) Guthrie Govan, Andy James, Rusty Cooley, Michael Angelo Batio all give very good advice on technique and musicality, ideas, things to work on etc. Again, some of the stuff they talk about is very advanced. Just type their name along with 'alternate picking lesson' or 'two hand tapping lesson' etc into youtube and see what comes up.
3.) justinguitar.com has lots of good lessons (all free, unless you want to be generous and donate or course). Again, he's a professional session musician, so he knows what he's talking about. Some of the videos are long, but on the plus side they are thorough, plus he's organised them to help beginners.
4.) Guitar magazines e.g. Guitarworld, Total guitar, Guitar techniques (this is probably the best one for pure tuition). Granted, they're not cheap (~ £5.50 a mag), but if you make the effort to take something from every lesson, you get a lot for your money really.
5.) Make the effort to learn to read music. I regret not learning sooner. It really is worth it, and all you really have to do is practise spelling notes out for about 10-15 minutes every day and it'll sink in. Currently, I take a guitar magazine with me every time I go for a dump (cos I'm a classy guy
) and just read 'e', 'a', 'g#' etc in my head whilst looking across the pitches on the staff. Just google 'why should I learn to read music' and you'll find a long lists of benefits. (Note: Guitar sheet music is different from piano and a lot of other instruments, I believe. For guitar, 'B' is on the centre line of the staff)
6.) I recommend this book: Guitar theory by Tom Kolb published by Hal Leonard. It's pretty concise and gives you a good grounding in theory without over complicating things.
7.) A program or device that slows down songs without changing the pitch, and allows you to loop short sections over and over (I use a Tascam CD-GT2). Again, they're not cheap, but it's a godsend for improving phrasing and timing, and just getting the details of a song right. You can use a metronome to develop timing too, of course, but if you've got a tricky, fast part with complex timing something like this makes life a lot easier. Slowing stuff down and looping a short segment also makes it much easier to figure out by ear.
8.) Practising daily for 30 minutes is better than practising one day for 6 hours. Be very patient and take baby steps. You'll improve a lot more if you just work on learning one or two parts per week (say a verse and chorus), and keep practising them until you can play them fluidly, than if you rush through and just learn approximations for several songs. As a rule of thumb, learning a bar at a time and looping it over and over, then moving to the next bar is the fastest way to learn.
As a first start, I'd recommend trying that justinguitar website, going to the beginner section and just sticking with one lesson until you've absorbed it's content. Buy one guitar magazine with a song in it you like and choose one part (i.e. one verse or chorus) to work on for the next week or however long it takes to learn to play it fluidly. Try to memorise the chord names and/or notes you are playing once you've got the pattern under your fingers, as this will help your music reading and fretboard knowledge.
As for beginner guitars, squier make good ones. Ibanez are also generally very good value for money. If you're serious, buy the best guitar you can afford since cheap guitars tend to be less confrotable to learn on. I'd recommend a guitar with a fixed bridge for beginners, since whammy bars introduce further complexity with maintenance, intonation and string changing etc. Plus, whammy bar techniques really aren't a priority for new guitarists. You've got plenty more useful stuff to get to grips with first like chords, picking, legato, vibrato, bending, harmonics.
I'd strongly advise against buying guitars online. Surprisingly two supposedly identical guitars can feel different, so I'd buy the one in the store you find feels most comfortable for you. Also, avoid buying second hand until you know more about guitar construction and what to check one for.
For your first picks, I'd recommend Snarling Dogs Brain, 0.73 mm. This thickness is not too hard and not too floppy for most beginners. Stiffer picks are generally better for fast picking, but only after you've developed the control to only use the top 1 or 2 mm of the pick tip. Plus, these picks have a nice grippy surface, which helps (most beginners find stopping their pick slipping in their fingers hard, but persevere and you'll learn to adjust automatically)
Hope all that helps
