ORIGINAL: sylvie369
As a newbie last year Ibought a non-computer 5-channel radio. I'm mostly flying sailplanes, so the fact that it's only 5 channels doesn't really bother me, but I do wish I'd bought a computer radio.
It seems that common advice is "buy the best transmitter you can afford right away, so you don't have to upgrade later". That sounds to me like good advice, and I wish I'd heard it in time. My radio is fine, but I bet I'll have another one before the end of next year.
I've heard that as long as I have been flying. But the members of the clubs I have been in say that is marketing hype and I believe it. I flew a 4-channelAM radio for over a year before finally "upgrading" to a 4 channel FM radio. It was at least 2 more years before I finally upgraded to a 7 channel computer radio. That was over 10 years ago and it is still my primary radio - and it is 72 MHz.
So buy what you need now- by the time you want to upgrade something will come along that is much cheaper than it is today.