What genres do you usually play? Since your budget is pretty nice I'd recommend the Fender standard strat since the sound it produces is well fit for a lot of types of music in my opinion. I tried it out in the store but my budget was too small so I had to get an Epiphone ES-339 which is very nice as well, of course!

Do you have an amp to go with that?

EDIT: Oh, and I recommend the maple fretboard, it's much easier to play on in my opinion. I heard it doesn't need that much care as well. I kind of regret getting a rosewood, but the darker tones it produces still sound nice. There isn't that much difference in sound in the end though.