Everything everyone else has already said. I have always told my students to buy the best they could afford, the radio is the one thing that will be with you for decades. A good radio will expand with you as your planes get bigger and require a bit more set up. Brand choice is up to you. When I was looking to upgrade from my old Futaba 9-C I decided on the Hitec A-9. I have used the radio and set up a plane with one and really like it. I ended up just buying a Hitec Module for my old Futaba 9-C and converted it to 2.4. This way as I buy new RXs I'm still able to fly my planes on 72. That and I really like my old Futaba a lot. The one thing about Futaba and Hitec is the lack of RX choice. If you like tose little bind and fly planes then your out of luck again. Hitec has the 6, 7 and 9 RX and most of the RXs I used in 72 were 8s because I liked the way my twin elevator servos defalted to Ch. 8 in my radio. I just picked up the Hitec 9 RX and I'm happy with it. Found some good prices on the Hitec RXs too. That made me a happy boy!!! Look around and choose the one that fits your needs today and tomorrow. There are some very good choices out there today and all are pretty good.