Hi CenRacer,
The ECO piccolo has some more expensive parts that are lighter and reduce friction, all in the mane of getting longer flight times. The Fun Piccolo is less expensive. Still flies, but weighs just a bit more. This was relevant in the days before LiPo batteries. People struggling with 4 minute flight times on NiCad batteries were willing to pay more for bearings and carbon parts to fly longer. Each saved gram of wieght gave about 5 more seconds flight time. Luckily, we have LiPos and fly until we are tired of flying now. (well, much longer anyway)
As to your question of which of the 2 helis, Piccolo or HB, both are good if they are set up properly. I prefer the Piccolo for more than just the reason of 'I learned on it'. It has a well defined upgrade path, in that you have the ability to go full collective on the same frame. But almost all of the current crop of micros will be flyable.
You ask for suggestions - Here is mine. Do not get RTF. You will learn a lot about how the heli works by constructing it. You will know how to disassemble it for repairs. You will be able to ensure tha proper quality is used in the construction because you will be doing it.
I always make a pitch to noobs asking - Consider going seperates. Instead of the all-in-one mixing board, go with a seperate gyro and ESCs. All-in-one means that you throw all of it away when something goes wrong. Going with seperate componnents means that you only have to replace the one componnent that has gone bad. Also, when you go seperates, you can get a full Head Hold gyro. This is a great boon to learning to hover. The cost is more, but you should consider it.