are you sure it was 17-300 ? what make was it ?
17mm is super wide, and 300 mm is super long, and tho there is a couple of lenses about with 18-200 ive not been able to find one thats 17-300mm
i think nikon do a cheap 70-300 or something, if thats the one i think someone at work might have it.
there is a bit of text about some of the nikon lenses at
http://www.kenrockwell.com , you can have a read about lenses for the nikon slrs on
http://www.dpreview.com, and i think you can get a lot of info at
http://www.nikonians.org/
the "no aperture" will most likely be refering to the the lens not having an "aperture ring" - this is just a ring that you can turn on the lens to control the aperture so it makes no difference unless you are using it on a manual camera and have to adjust the aperture by hand.
My old "big" lens had an aperture ring my new "big" lens doesnt.