Tweedybird, I am also new and have researched a lot of nitro trucks.I also came from airplanes and heli. so this was a little different.MT2 is short for the CEN FUN FACTOR MT-2 1/10 scale monster truck not well known but is becoming more popular.They are not as big as the others that you mentioned but they can hold there own with the big boys.There customer support is great and they are not as expensive as compared to the others you quoted.You could probably almost buy 2 of them close to the price of the others.I will put a link at the bottom for you to read some reviews.I hope I helped a little.You won't go wrong with CEN.I bought mine at
www.offshoreelectrics.com they had a great deal and short videos you can look at.Others here on this forum will also be happy to help you if you need it,smaerd5
www.offshoreelectrics.com
www.rcpics.net CEN Fun Factor MT2 review
www.WildHobbies.com CEN Fun Factor MT2 review
www.cenracing.com also do a search on google.com for cen and you will find all kinds of info
