The sony V6 is one of the most durable phones around from what people here say. They sound pretty good too. My only real complaint was the small sound stage. If the typical "in your head" feel you get with most all cheaper phones doesn't other you if the sound quality is good, than they are a very good choice. They run very well off portables too. The 497 seems like a good choice too if you want to spend a little less or want open phones. I can't tell you anything about them from experience, but people say they sound ok and they apparently have much better sound staging than the V6s. Not that hard to do though. The HD 280 would also be a good choice. From what I've heard here, they seem like the V6's big half brother. They have more sound stage and better sound stage too. Of the phones that have been named here, they will get the most bennifit from an amp, however they should run fine out of most portables and almost any sound card. They do take a little more juice than the others though. My guess is that you wouldn't be able to put your finger on what ever you were missing and would think that they sounded great. The 280s are also closed and isolate a lot of noise. If you want that, they are a good choice. I'm trying to gather more info on them in relation to the V6 and other such offerings for my friend, while I'm pretty well set to buy HD 590s for my self when I get a tad more cash. The 280s are in the $80-100 range though, so that may put them outside your realm of considderation anyway.
The best thing I can think of to tell a fellow newbie is to considder the V6 a fairly safe buy and go from there. Also, make sure not to confuse them witht the newer and lower quality V600. Good luck.
