I like the red. Personally though I would put a bigger paypal logo in your header to its right. Your logo needs working on with some better anti-aliasing so its not so jaggy and of course the text underneath has to be bolder and more readable.
I think you are definitely on the right direction. Just some work on the layout. Also on your main page you have actually got three category boxes?. One top, one at your left sidebar and another on your mainpage.
If it were me I would keep the top navigation bar, get rid of the left sidebar and then group the category list on your mainpage with bigger icons towards the bottom but running horizontally as opposed to vertically. Above that I would create a latest products gallery using a similar layout like you have with the laptop on your site.
A picture paints a thousand words. Anything white made by apple on your stores completely blends in with its super bright background. like this one:
http://www.brulyninternationalcompan...8/Products/105
As I said you're on the right track and for a first site you've done great.