A traditional snapper will give you less trouble than anything else, but they are slooooow. You won't loose any money on a used one, so it may be a good option initially if you want to move up later.
I am very partial to my Deere x300 with 42" deck. I have a 1 acre lot, and cut about 3/4 acre. From start to finish I am done in an hour, including trimming, blowing, etc. If you are looking at used JD, check out the dealers. There are an awful lot of folks that trade them fairly often, a good "dealer only" unit is what you are after. If your yard has slopes or bumps don't go crazy on deck size, as it will cause scalping. Biggest thing to look for is deck condition. Inspect the bottom for major rust.
There is no better feeling to quickly knock out grass cutting and have good results, with a machine that runs well and operates properly. At the same time there is nothing worse than trying to cut grass after a long day at work (before it gets dark) and have to fight issues from a POS mower/tools.
It didn't come up in your original post, but if you need a string trimmer, leaf blower, etc, buy quality stuff. For the love of God don't buy one if those multi purpose blower/string trimmer combo's, or anything 4 stroke. Make sure the string trimmer is a straight shaft model for longevity. I am very partial to Echo/Shindawia, but Stihl is nice as well. Not a huge fan of Husqvarna's stuff other than their pro quality chain saws, but they aren't garbage. Echo cranks easier than any other brand in my opinion; something to keep in mind if the SWMBO will be assisting you.
Finally, some maintenance tips. Whatever you buy, clean the grass clippings off the mower deck and rest of the mower right after you finish cutting (leaf blower is the easiest way) and clean out under the deck about once a month. If available in your area, spend the extra $ on non ethanol gas for all small engine applications, 89 or higher octane for 2 strokes. If non-ethanol is not available, buy your gas in small quantities, and drain the gas/run it out any time you will be storing for over a month. A in line fuel shut off is handy for this, just close the valve and let the carb run dry. You can leave the ethanol gas in the tank, just add fresh gas to it in the spring. If you don't run 2 strokes very much, the premixed fuel in a can works very well. Slightly expensive, but very handy, and no mixing or ethanol issues. Stihl, Echo, and TruFuel are all made by the same company, but do have slightly different oils in them. They are all good quality.
Sorry for the long winded response. I used to operate a rental house with an extensive small engine department. I try to save people the headaches I used to deal with every day whenever possible.
