I play the violin haha. It's been 7 years now i think.

Though i wouldn't call myself passionate about it as in i wont remember the hundreds of movements composed by mozart,etc etc. But i just really like playing it and whatever sounds good is what i'd play. I've no favourite composer or anything, i don't notice my violin's brand as long as i know it sounds good and i certainly don't know all my composers

Yes, one thing about the violin is that it has no frets which makes it a bit hard. I'm not sure on the philosophy of mastering the note placements but practice makes perfect should be your best bet. I've heard people using coloured tapes on the notes, i think that helps alot too. Wait til you get to vibrato

My first violin was 300 ringgit and it sounded pretty good for a starter violin ,i think what matters is if you feel comfortable and is the sound ok to you.

250~400 is a standard price of starter violins.

Yes, seasoned violins sound much better than brand new ones. My violin was about 2.4k and now some people want to buy it for 3k+.

lol i'm a guy. And the violin is in no way feminine just because it has a higher tone, girls get wet for guys with a violin. they'd probably never heard of viola and a cello cannot be brought around for a spontaneous performance. So we win!