Well, you gave two bits of advice, and both bits are correct. The zoom lens really does depend on what you want to do with it, but if you can live without wideangle then the 70 to 300 is good.
I myself use a Nikon, with a general purpose zoom of 18-200, among others.
ive got an olympus so went with the olympus lens jessops wanted an organ donation but got one off ebay for £200