go used!
you can get for that money some nice guitar...
iīd say go to any guitar shop and try... fender stratocaster and telecasters are different guitars... i personally prefer a stratocaster neck (easier to play, for me), but i prefer the telecaster sound. itīs more "personal", a bit limiting perhaps, but great.
bloc party itīs a band that uses all telecasters. you can have an idea of the sound via that.
other options..
epiphone les pauls / sg. good for the money, lots of sustain, more of a "rock" and "heavy" guitars. you can swap the pickups later and then you will have a veeery nice guitar comparable to a $1000 les paul for example.
epiphone dot (355). hollowbodies have a nice, fat, dark tone. i like them, used a lot by new order, trail of dead, countless others. you can find a used one for that price.
but, btw, do you also need an amp. generally is more important than your guitar (seriously). did u considered that?
hope it helps.