Looking to play D&D 4th Edition

Monster manual...

I suggest getting the starter set, as it's about $20 ($14 on Auggies) and has everything you need to play.

Also note that you would want at least 5+ players. (1 DM and 4+ other people.)

But if you want to just get all of the core rulebooks, the cheapest way I know of is on amazon, they have a full boxed set (Players Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide) for $66. If you do this though, note that you will need a full set of dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20).

Or, you could get the "Keep on the Shadowfell" book, which is under $20 on Amazon, which has a pretty long adventure and basic rules, along with 5 pre-generated characters, so you could play with just that, dice, paper, and players.

And I would say 4th edition is best, from what I heard, it's the simplest to learn and has a more "streamlined" combat system... the combat encounters still do take a bit of time.

Finally, you could download off of WOTC's site (I'm sure that you can) the quick-start rules, read them through, pick up some dice, and your FLGS would most likely have a "D&D Encounters" where you can play in an adventure every Wednesday that continues over time. (They can give you pre-generated characters.)

Everything Fen Hydra said is solid, but my personal recommendation would simply to go down to your local game store and ask the owner which times RPG playing groups meet. Show up and observe a few sessions. Many groups love to get new players, and it is much easier to join an established group than to get a new group started. Further, you may find that local gaming groups play something other than 4th Edition D&D - which will give you the chance to choose what looked most interesting in actual play before you go out and drop $100 on manuals. In my area, for example, you'd be hard pressed to find a 4e group, but a lot of folks play Pathfinder (which is widely considered to be 3.75e by gamers). Good luck and have fun!

~Aldin, running a Kalashtar Psion10/Constructor10

Personally, I'm not buying anything from Wizards unless it has Hero and Scape in the title.

Run! Don't do it. 4th ed really sucks compared to the early editions. If you really want to roleplay, look into GURPS.