Almost 3 years ago i bought this guitar to start off my guitar players journey. Did I expect to stick with it? No, but thankfully I did, and I would encourage any aspiring musicians to do the same. After all, the first month is the hardest. Did this instrument attribute to me deciding to stick with guitar? Honestly I think so, I was a beginner back then and I did not know much about quality vs price in these instruments so I picked my favorite looking guitar I could find in my price range. It doesn't sound great, it doesn't stay in tune, and it doesn't feel great to play. But for this price can I really complain? I don't think so. For me what kept me coming back was looking at its Les Paul style design and visioning myself playing along with Slash or Page on the big stages with a full blown Gibson. This leads me to my main point which is at this price range whatever you get will suck so i suggest you buy a guitar based on the type of guitar you hope to one day play. If you dont know what you want to play think of your favorite artists, Pink Floyd fans for instance will want to go for a Squier Strat and Guns N' Roses fans like myself might find an Epiphone Les Paul most enjoyable. Now that Iv rambled on for a few minutes and havent really gotten anywhere I'll just leave you with one more bit of advice. If your certain you cant spend any more than $200 on a guitar go for the big companies like Fender (Fenders Squier range) and Epiphone, and go for the guitar that you think will get you picking up the guitar again, because at the end of the day it doesn't matter how good your guitar sounds and feels if you just don't like it.
The only thing that will get you playing the guitar is how much you like that guitar and how much you enjoy the music your playing.

A really good guitar for the price. I don't understand the bad reviews. What does one get for $100?
The only bad thing I noticed with this guitar was that the frets were a little sharp on the edges. They probably should have smoothed them a little better at the factory. I sanded them smooth. It took all of ten minutes and all was well.
Plays well and sounds good when plugged in. I looked at a lot of low priced guitars with many greater quality issues than this one.
I would unhesitatingly buy another one if the need were to arise. Other friends that have played it thought it was nice too.

I'm not a pro by any means. I am enjoying this guitar. It has all I expected it to have in terms of playability and range. It _may_ tend to overdrive a little bit. More than my other guitars (again not a pro). One of the screws by the jack was loose, nearly stripped, when I got it. A drop of wood glue fixed it. Had I paid $300 or more for the guitar I'd have been upset, but as is that was an easy fix.

My biggest complaint is that the finish on the body is thicker and less "natural" that the image appears to be. It's pretty enough, and fine for a $100 guitar. But I really wanted "natural wood" and it isn't. Otherwise it would be a 5 star. I play it every day.

Being from Tampa, I wanted my first guitar to be a Dean. Sure, there are plenty of other options out there, but I just had it in my head thats what I wanted. Well, I must say I am very happy with the purchase. Guitar arrived in its triangular shelf box, inside another Dean shipping box, which was wrapped in bubble sheet packed inside yet another, larger, Amazon box. Was essentially ready to play right out of the box, with a few quick turns of the tuning pegs. One knock on it I have seen online before buying was that the tuners don't hold tight, I have not yet had this problem after a week of playing it, including some drastic bends. Checked with a steel straightedge and a light, the neck was dead flat and straight. The edges of the frets could use some more finishing, they are still a bit edgy. I have seen others mention filing them down a bit, same thing that would be done on a more expensive guitar at the factory. I will probably get some diamond files and do this as well, I keep hanging up my hand on them on the bottom of the neck. I'm no expert on tone, but this has a nice even sound and responds well to pretty much any pedals or effects I've thrown at it. I did restring mine with the DR Neon Multi-Color strings for using with Rocksmith, which required adjusting the intonation. The low E and A strings ended up at the very end of their range, and the A is actually still a tiny bit flat. This could well be a factor of those particular strings though, so I wont knock the guitar for it. As others have noted, the finish can vary drastically. Mine is much darker than the stock photo and the grain is much less noticeable. Overall, looks a nice piece, especially for the cost. I could not ask for better for this price. From what I hear from more experienced players, as I progress I could easily upgrade the tuners and pickups, though I think I will leave this one alone and just get a higher end guitar when its time.

OVERALL:
Nice looking, feeling guitar for a beginner.

PROS:
Excellent value.
Good quality construction.
Feels and looks good right out of the box.
Can be upgraded in time if you choose.

CONS:
Tuners may or may not slip when playing hard.
Finish is variable, be willing to accept whatever shade you get.

The guitar plays very well for the price. The "fit and finish" is lacking somewhat on this guitar as I would guess it to be a "B" grade, but overall I was pleased with the purchase. The mahogany finish shown online is not at all how the guitar was finished. Instead it was a dark violet to flat black finish. This is fine for my purposes as I am carving and repainting the guitar, so this was still a great value for my purposes. The electronics and hardware are good quality, and the guitar tunes up and played pretty well. The neck is straight and flat but the edges of the frets seemed a little sharp. These can be carefully filed down for smoth action up and down the neck. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good quality starter guitar, but be advised that what you receive may not look like what is shown online as a nice mahogany woodgrain finish. Not even close.