Look down the neck, if you see bowing (neck's not straight), keep looking. Also make sure it's tuned, then play a low E, and play the high E at the 12th fret. If you hear any warble in the tuning, then the intonation is off. Also play EVERY note on each string going up the neck to check for fret buzz.
These are just general tips that I follow although one could go into greater depth, but I aint no expert, I just love to play.
I just helped a friend pick out a guitar for their son, although not his first guitar, but his first acoustic. I met up with him at GuitarCenter and played several but found this one to have the best sound, and intonation for the money. Not real sure on the electronics since I didn't plug it in, but Ibanez aint too bad as far as bang for buck goes.
Ibanez IBANEZ V70CETBS-B B STOCK V SER AE NO WARRANTY | GuitarCenter