Well it depends on what sort of coin you're looking to spend first.
Ideally you'd go for a dedicated cutting compound, then follow it up with a good quality wax or glaze to seal everything. Cut and polish works, but if you then try to wax over it, it just ends up looking blurry and smeared.
I use Meguairs products because I've had nothing but really good results with them, and I would steer away from cheap brands.
As for electric buffers, using them for waxing/buffing takes a lot of the effort out of it as opposed to doing it by hand, but do it by hand first till you get a feel for what you're doing. Oh, and don't use them for applying the cutting compound, as you can leave burn marks in the paint... I've done it.
Other than the obvious, i.e. wash/cut/wax in the shade, have lots of clean open weave cloths, follow the instructions (for the cutting compound) you'll learn as you go :)
Hope this helps you somewhat dude :cool: