I hate Strats. They're ugly, they sound nasty and they're far too popular. If any non-player talks about guitars, the first thing he mentions will be a Stratocaster. If you get a Fender, get a Fat Telecaster (humbucker in the bridge). Much better.
Sorry, bit of a rant there.
Setekh: I wouldn't get a semi-acoustic, personally. They're kind of useless because they don't sound as good as acoustics when they're unplugged, and you can't drive them as much when they're wired up because of the ghastly feedback you'll get. Try cranking up the gain next time you plug your acoustic in, and you'll see what I mean...

You'd be better off getting a nice acoustic (a Taylor or something) as well as a solidbody. Of course, that means you have to spend more...