I'm still on my first heli and radio which are the Century Raven 30 and the Hitec Eclipse 7. These probably represent the most bounce for your buck. The usual advice for beginners is to get the most radio you can afford up front as you will probably live with it for a long time. The large majority of heli fliers seem to prefer a radio like the Futaba 9C. The main reason that I did not start with a heli like the Century Hawk is that I don't like the concept of mechanical CCPM. Nevertheless, I cannot reiterate strongly enough - Get a simulator first. You will never regret it.