I've always been a guitarist, but had the violin itch as well. I went out to CL and bought the cheapsest 4/4 size I could find to get my feet wet. Ended up at $100 after a new bow and set of strings.

Violins can make some god-awful screeching noises so you may want to find yourself a sound proof room out of courtesy of those within earshot. I find it way more difficult to play than guitar. The tiny fretless fingerboard and the extra coordination required to work the bow (pressure, angle, position, etc) means you're going to need some practice to sound adequate. I got some songs down, but not with much fluidity. Get some muted and screechy tones every so often. I figured it was because I have an el cheapo instrument. So I tried playing a more expensive model....nope I still sucked.

I tried making sense of the whole violin world. I couldn't quite see why one violin costs $50 and another costs $10,000. That's why I just went cheap to try it. You can get pickups that clip to the bridge of an acoustic violin if you want to run it through amps/effects. I'm glad I didn't sink more money into it now. I had an opportunity to play a cello and I find that to be more my style and size....but you just can't find one of them under $100.