The '03 Accords have had a few problems, notably the brake issue. The '04s seem to have had the bugs worked out. I am happy with my '04. (14k miles) The power is ample for a 4 banger, and the manual shifter works perfectly. The only thing I've noticed that I don't like is the lack of visibility. My wife's '96 has much better visibilty, in fact she was uncomfortable with driving mine at first. It's a learning curve though, I'm somewhat used to it now.
Any year model you get will be a solid car, but watch out for the Auto trans. issues the others described.
My parents have a '93 Accord auto., and my 73 y.o. dad says it's probably the best car he's ever had. (He was a Ford driver for many years)
My best friend has an '02 auto., and has had no trouble with it.
My bro. has a '00 auto. and loves his car.
Our '96 auto. has been a very good car so far. (100k miles)