First, be prepared to spend some money. Yes, you can buy inexpensive tripods. You will regret it.
I recommend you look at the Bogen Manfrotto line. They are made in Italy, but widely distributed in this country. B&H and many other places carry them. They have a pretty broad range of units all the way up to very expensive carbon fiber units and there are some of a new material that is supposedly even stronger... I forget the name, something related to volcanos I think.
Back many years ago, Star-D made knockoffs of some Leitz and other units that were pretty good and not too expensive. I haven't seen any Star-D stuff in years though.
Depending on what your intended use is, you may wind up with several. I have heavy ones I use primarily for studio stuff, and a couple of much lighter and smaller units used for field work.
One trick to make lighter units more stable is to hang your camera bag on them. The extra weight can make them considerably more stable.
Another trick is to go to your home improvement store and buy foam formed pipe insulators. They come in various diameters and are usually grey. Use a razor blade or sissors to cut a slit along the length and slip them over the tripod legs. Saves scratching the legs up, makes the tripod easier on your shoulder when carrying, and can make handling them in very cold weather less traumatic...
