TelescopeBinoculars.org

For most beginners, the best buy in telescopes is a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106

Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, not from a discount or department store, or eBay, because everything they sell is junk.

Any of the scopes I suggested will give you good views of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Mars, Uranus, and Neptune are more difficult targets because of their small size.

Check out the TeleVue NP127, this baby has some horsepower, and will give you breath taking views of Saturn’s rings and the belts of Jupiter.
They also make less expensive scopes but are sure to please. For the televue line: http://www.televue.co.uk/tvnp127.htm

W/Losmandy equatorial mounts… they are pricey but worth it.

http://www.losmandy.com/gm8.html

You can mount a camera, that will take it to the next level…

Takahashi FSQ106 although it costs $4000

The "Best Telescope" depends on how detailed you want to see vs. what your budget will allow. Sometimes the best answer is locating and joining a local astronomy club or visit a local observatory and look through their scope during one of their times allocated to public viewing.

The low cost telescopes available at department stores and other shopping areas other than a legitimate dealer in telescope suitable for astronomy are a waste of money.

Seeing the outer planets other than Jupiter and Saturn is beyond the reach of most "small" telescopes. I have see Neptune at Brown Universities telescope and was disappointed on the absence of detail; only a small round object was discernible. Views of Jupiter and Saturn and a number of their moons are easily viewed in a good quality scope of even apertures of 3 inches or less. The greater the aperture the greater the amount of detail.