I had a brief infatuation with taking up the mandolin over the last couple days. I think it has passed (lack of $$$ is good for that).
Aesthetically I would prefer A-type, flat back with oval hole (or a bowlback if it’s not too ornate).
I would want to play it as a melody instrument.
I’ve never played a string instrument before.
The infatuation has pretty well abated but I’m probably not cured.
What do you pluckers and pickers think?
Mandolin now consumes my life.
Beware. If you start you are doomed.
If you play ITM you will find that the G and D Major scales fall so precisely beneath your fingers that you’ll wonder if it is a sign from God. The scale length is very similar to fiddle, i.e. two octaves of scale barely involve any shift in hand position.
In the UK particularly, mandolin can be really cool. People are familiar with guitars, bass, fiddle, squeezeboxes, whistles, flutes - but mandos arouse interest and curiosity.
simple open chords are incredibly easy. two fingers will get you workable versions of G, C, F, Em, Am, D, Bm - all the essential ITM chords - with no real stretching.
On the other hand, if you want to challenge yourself there are chord shape options that will dislocate every bone on your body.
For anyone considering mandolin I recommend checking out YouTube videos of Planxty to see Andy Irvine, and of Sam Bush to see some fun mixtures of bluegrass with reggae, blues and rock.
Personally I have moved from oval hole flatback to f hole archtops because of the greater versatility. Whereas an f hole A or F style mandolin will work great for ITM, folk, blues, jazz and bluegrass, bowlbacks and flatbacks will not work so well for bluegrass, rock, jazz and, IMHO, blues.
Actually, bowlbacks are rarely played except for classical styles.
It is possible to get a playable mandolin without spending a load of cash, but not easy. Trinity College is one badge found on a range of acceptable Korean instruments that work for folk and ITM. For archtops, Eastman and J Bovier mandolins are very popular and of pretty good quality.
Cheap instruments especially need to be set up well to make them properly playable.
Mandolin is a brilliant instrument. Fun, versatile, different and extremely portable.
Addictive as hell. Beware.
Yeah, I’d say to definitely give it a try. There are some really nice oriental import instruments out there which would let you get started at a very reasonable price. If you find that you don’t like it, you could most likely sell it for what you paid for it. A good used instrument is also an option. Check out mandolincafe.com for tons of information.
Let me echo everything Buddhu said and more. The mandolin is a marvelous instrument for all manner of music. It is a very logical thing, and once you understand the simple logic of the fretboard, a tune will simply fall under your fingers naturally. It is very simple to begin on, yet lends itself to some of the greatest virtuosity. I’ve not met a guitarist who, once understanding the mandolin’s logic, could not pick simple tunes in a few minutes.
It is an ideal melodic instrument for fiddle tunes and ITM, yet unlike the violin can strum chordal accompaniments. The basic chords used in ITM and other folk musics are easily played with two fingers.
As for choosing one, I would strongly recommend an arch top A-style with either F holes or an oval hole. There are more choices in those instruments and it’s easier to find a good one at a decent price. The F-style archtops with their elaborate carvings and scroll work are equally fine, but much more expensive. The bowl-backs are the mandolin equivalent of the classical guitar, that is, and instrument with a different sound and playing style used for classical music.
You can get a good quality starter instrument for less than the price of some of the ultra-high end whistles. I’ve played a couple of nice starter mandolins that sold new for under $200.
And as Pual said, do visit mandolincafe.com to learn all there is about the subject. It’s a great forum and great resource.
But beware. If you start down this path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.
Fylde Signature Single Malt Mandolin 
(>instruments>mandolins)
I’m slowly wading into Mandolin Cafe. The EYE CANDY page is precocious.
Thanks for the tips… but you are supposed to be me persuading me AWAY from the mandolin. 
I can think of no good reason at all to persuade anyone against the mandolin. Even money can’t be an excuse with deals like these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/home/navigation?q=rouge+mandolin
True, these are VERY basic starters, but then again if you just want to test the water…
Now you’ve gone and done it. And it comes in a stylish black too. 
I’ll be distracting myself with bagpiping this weekend… we’ll see what happens.
I’ve actually got an A-style mandolin (with f holes) that I don’t play anymore. It’s a Flint Hill, which are good as far as cheap imports go. If the piping doesn’t kill your interest in mandolin, feel free to shoot me a message or e-mail if it sounds like something you might have interest in.
Some cheap garage sale (and ebay) mandolins are poorly fretted, so they won’t play in tune. Sometimes it’s just a problem with bridge placement (which you can fix since it isn’t glued down). On a small instrument, fret placement is critical because the frets are so close together.
Mandolin can be a difficult instrument for a non-string-playing beginner. The cheese-cutter strings can be really hard on your left hand. If you’re motivated and keep working on it you should be OK, but it’s a rough couple of months at the beginning. Several short practice sessions a day are a lot better than one long one.
Another approach to string playing would be to start out on a uke. The single nylon strings are a lot easier on the fingers and you can get a decent instrument inexpensively. They aren’t traditional for Irish music, but they’re great for a lot of other stuff.
There’s some uke info here:
http://www.fleamarketmusic.com/faq/default.asp
Hmm… my guitarist cousin has a Rogue mandolin; the action is unplayably high, even with the bridge all the way down- though truth to tell I didn’t try moving the bridge back… hm. It might be worth a try.
This was my first mandolin: http://www.instrumentalley.com/Oscar-Schmidt-OM10-Mandolin-p/om10.htm Quite a bit more expensive than the Rogue to be sure, but it was good.
(does that say spruce top? Huh! Coulda sworn mine was laminate… well if that’s solid spruce- does anyone know?- then dang, you got it made there)
Go for it Aaron,
They are much fun. Everyone’s advice has been great. Mando was one of my first instruments and I’m still in love.
There is something wonderful about being able to do melody and chords. Few intruments offer that flexibility. You can pick the ones you know and strum the ones you don’t and always look like you know what you’re doing.
Learn what the guitar chords look like so you can follow the guitarist and you’re off to the races. 
Doc
I am a whistle player, but my mom plays the mandolin. This means that a mandolin is always within grabbing distance. Because of this, I have played a lot of mandolin the last year.
I’d say go for it as well. It’s a fun instrument. My mom has a great mandolin that was only $185 with a nice case that is worth about that much alone. She bought it from a store, and I think it’s a “Westminster” or something like that. Or, Eastman mandolins are really nice, but they are more expensive…
-Casey
It’s like the pennywhistle of stringed instruments; addictive and more potentially expressive than I had ever thought before. The string arrangement in 5ths makes it quite intuitive. Mando and zouk were my first ever stringed instruments. If you already have tunes to bring to the instrument, then I think that you’ve got the majority of it already.
Mando was bit of a solution to not having keys on my flute. I built a nice sounding A-style kit for less than half the price of a single flute key, so I’m good to go for tunes in A major
Mike
Thanks for all of the great tips and info.
I have made it passed the infatuation/impulsive phase.
I’m still interested but am going to wait and look for opportunities to try some out and save up for something nice… I wonder if any shops rent them out?
Cheers,
Aaron
Hi there !
I play the mandolin since about 4 years and I really adore it.
You must have a look at my favorite site —> www.mandozine.com
That’s where I take all my tunes and infos about mandos.
Good luck !
Antoine
Many baritone ukuleles will tune to GDae (like a tenor banjo). I assume that one of the smaller ones might go an octave higher like a mando.
I like them, but find the strings a little too far apart to be completely comfortable.
-brett