RE: Buying a new 2.4 radio. Need opinions.
IMO, radios and chargers (if your going electric) are two very important pieces of equipment, very often overlooked because of their high price tags. The good thing though is that once you purchase a good radio you are pretty much set for the next few years. With that said, I wil share some of my experiences and give you my opinion.
I have had very good results with Spektrum systems over the last 4 or 5 years. It is important to choose a system wisely because once bought can be pricey to switch down the road to another. I originally started with the Spektrum dx3s, which came with the telemetry and a receiver and thought it to be a pretty fair pric comparing to other systems at the time. I have had zero problems with this system over the last 5 years that I have been using it and have it bound to 6 of my rc's. It has a very good range and is very easy to set up and use (don't believe I ever had to read instructions).
I recently went out and bought Spektrum dx3r pro and since I have so much money invested in Spektrum receivers, the choice to go Spektrum was a no brainier. I. Also glad I did go with this radio because it's probably one of the nicest radios I have played with.
IMO, you should buy the best radio you could afford. I think in this great hobby it is one of the items one shouldn't go cheap on. Even if you don't plan on racing, the options a good transmitter can offer, are well worth the extra money one must spend to obtain one. For me the good radio made me enjoy my models in a way the cheap systems I was buying just couldn't. I too originally thought a good radio was for the racer and while i could afford the top radios out there, i just didnt think i needed one and the options they offered didnt apply to my needs. Well, one day i got to play with a friends DX3R pro and was instantly hooked at the difference it made to that nice rc car i just built and spent so much money on. I was extremely surprised at the difference it gave to my model cars compared to the RTR radios i had used up to that point.
I think you should go for a nice Spektrum. You won't regret it. Hope this helped out a bit.