here is the way I see them(been in hobby for 7+ years)

nitros take much more work/maintain/cleaning.

but they drive different as well. the power band is like that of your car, power increases as do the RPMs.

electics tend to be easier to work on....less total moving parts.
braking is done by the motor, not mechanical linkage.

with nitros you still have batteries, to power the servos and radio. and many models use an electric start. so a dead battery can be a pain(same as with electric)

fuel is a bit pricey!


electric motors deliver the same torque at 1 RPM as they do at 30000rpms....so the power is more "instant"

for models in your price range, nitro or electric can be very fast.

i tend to stick more with electric. but there is something about nitro that puts a slightly bigger smile on my face. a well tuned, solid running nitro truck is alot of fun.

i would suggest looking into the HPI racing savage flux. very fast, very tough, all-terrain truck.