[quote name='starman9000']Thinking of picking up a few things, I have 0 anime and don't know much about it.
I don't really like the uber-violent stuff or the sexual stuff. Any suggestions? (I know, probably choose a different genre)[/QUOTE]From your qualifications and looking at the list you compiled, you might find Akira to be a less than perfect choice. It's a classic for a few reasons, but if you're not into graphic violence, Trigun and Last Exile would probably be more enjoyable choices (Trigun has a good pace, fun, interesting characters; Last Exile has a beautiful style).
Someone recommened to you Chobits, but you may find the sexual themes gratuitous. I'd also stay away from X, another title recommended you.
Skipping around the titles available for the sale, I'll try and throw a few suggestions out for you, and anyone else new to anime who doesn't want to wind up finding themselves the owner of 10-25 DVDs with overly gratuitious themes.
For someone first trying out anime I'd try a few Lupin III discs. For starters I'd suggest vol 1 and 5. And then whereever you want to go from there. What's great about Lupin is that the localization (translation and then re-dubbing with American Voice Actors) is very good. (A fair number of Geneon aquisitions have mediocre or annoying voice actors so you may find you enjoy a series better by listening to the Japanese actors and reading the English subtitles.)
Gad Guard has a mix of good characters, the style is nice and it has giant-robots, an anime staple you'll want to experience at some point.
Similar to Gad Guard, GateKeepers is another ensemble youth cast. Here, set in Japan during the 50s. However there are invaders (read: aliens in disquise) wanting to take over. Nothing terrific and RightStuf only has discs 1-3 out of 8 I believe. But it's an okay show. Violence yes, but like Gad Guard, a mild violence.
Sherlock Hound is excellent and credits Miyazaki Hayao as it's chief director. (If you're brand spankin' new to anime, he's in a sort of league all his own. As Kurosawa Akira is to Japanese film (Ran, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo) Miyazaki is to anime. Rent My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away on DVD sometime to get an idea of his feature films. They're gorgeous and he has a way of drawing you into his world through his story-telling.)
Stellvia is a space pilot training series, which I've only seen part-way into. What I have seen was quite enjoyable.
Paranoia Agent is one of my favorite anime series. The series is about wanting to escape reality & responsibility and wanting to ignore evil. The violence is off-camera. And there are mature issues regarding a prostitute and a girl with a father horrible in um... horrible ways. It's bizarre and fascinating. For me, it's the sort of show you'd want everyone to see and 'get' what you 'got' out of it. Which is why I mention it. But owing to the content, it's probably not quite your show.