I say Gallente Logistics. They have the most equipment slots, something a Logistics value, and they get a CPU/PG reduction for equipment, so you can fit more Complex Shield Modules on, or some Armor Plates + KinCats. :)

As for weapon: The SCR overheats VERY quickly, but is incredibly powerful. It's one of the famous 'Marksman Weapons'. The brother/sister of the TAC-AR and BURST-AR.

The Blaster AR has a shorter range, but is much more useful for Frontline play, whereas the SCR will want you to stay behind, and fire from a longer range.

If you want to be a complete combatant than why not go with an assault suit? Having two weapons that really complement each other is extremely valuable. I'll tell you right now the Scrambler Rifle / Flaylock Pistol combo is incredible deadly for example. If you want to do that, then definitely go Amarr Assault for the heat build up reduction. Gallente Assault also has a nice slot load out.

If you do not see yourself taking advantage of two weapons then might as well go Logi. In my honest opinion the Gallente Logi is the most versatile. 25% equipment PG/CPU reduction means you still have room to fit other good stuff. With the 3 lows you can stack shield extenders and get 312 shield then have 5 low slots left to armor plates and armor reppers, you'll be a really beefy logi, excellent if you are going to have a triage fit for healing people on the frontlines. At the same time, you could forego the armor plates repairers and instead use the 5 lows to stack some kinetic catalyzers and cardiac regulators and have a really fast suit, perhaps carrying uplinks, remote explosives, scanners, and such.

The scrambler rifle can fire 15 shots in quick succession. With the 25% reduction to heat build up from an Amarr Assault suit you should be able to get around 20 shots off. This is actually going to be comparable with the TAC AR since scrambler rifles are getting a range buff and TAR's are getting a clip reduction to 20. So you could sort of treat your cooldown as the reload, except it should be faster and you'll have a larger clip so you don't need to reload as often. Also TAR's are getting a reduction to hip-fire accuracy, while scrambler rifles will still use lasers and be accurate here. Plus you always have the bonus option of charging your shots. Based on what I've heard the dev's say they are changing, it sounds like the scrambler rifles will be well worth it.

As far as the assault, I haven't actually tried it out but I heard you can unload a full clip without overheating, though I think you'd need an Amarr Assault for that.

Minmatar assault for speed! Neglect the slightly worse hp because the speed will allow you to get out of hairy situations when all the other assaults and logis die in a ball of fire ;)

Yup...and you have added flexibility. You can either run plates and go for more tank, or speed mods to be a slightly slower scout (you'll get it up to Gallente scout speed). You can also speed rig the other assaults, but in my (admittedly limited) experience it's simply not worth it because even if you fit 2 speed mods, they still aren't quite fast enough to make it worth it.

The Minmatar assault is the only non-scout suit where I often go "damn, speed saved me again" quite often. Also allows you to cap stuff quicker resulting in more WP.

So many situations where a slightly stronger tank wouldn't have saved me....but the little bit of extra speed allowed me to take cover that split second quicker, saving my suit in the process.

The only other recommendation I can give you is to consider running it with only sidearms...I haven't used any light weapon since skilling into Minmatar assaults. I simply don't seem to need them at all because the extra speed means I can get in range no problem as long as I play it clever and use cover when approaching.

Considered logi, but the lack in stamina is a major issue for me...hate feeling like a sitting duck.

Yup, 4 shots. Look into the other sidearms too. Scrambler pistol does awesome damage if your aiming is good. SMGs rock because you get 100 rounds per clip. If you want knives, go Minmatar scout though due to the bonus and speed advantage.

Consider dual sidearms which rocks because switching weapons is quicker than reloading. That's especially helpful for the FL and SP. Of course being able to pump out 100 rounds with one SMG and then quickly switch to the next one for another 100 rounds kinda rocks too

If you want mobility with a bit more HP than a scout, go with the Minmatar assault. Minmatar logi is pretty quick too (as quick as the other assault suits!), but it seriously lacks stamina to the point where it's simply not mobile enough for me.

After scouts and Minmatar assaults everything else will seem too slow...just warning you. I couldn't ever go back to anything slower