Mailchimp is one of the better options (I use it with all of my clients). They've created some great getting started documentation: http://kb.mailchimp.com/.
Mailchimp is a great platform. If you are building a list for a blog then SumoMe is great for email capture. What are you using this list for?
mail chimp also....MOVABLE INK. really cool company that can do real time animations and videos in emails. https://movableink.com/
+1 for Mailchimp. Another good option that i have used is Benchmarkemail.
Aweber all day. Mixed with leadpages for your landing pages