Im a newbie too. I just looked around and saw what others were using in my club. Futaba was the dominant brand with the 9 cap being the radio of choice in that brand. Every one that had one was using it for everything from electrics to 1/3 scale acrobatic aircraft. Im still not sure what flavor of flying I want to do but figured Id spend the extra cash and get a radio that will handle it all for years to come.

I have alot of different hobbies and I have learned that its best to just start out with the best thing you can afford and avoid uprgrading in the future.

For R/C the radio is probably the one thing that will hold some sort of resale value as well (especially a quality top of the line model) if you decide to bag it.

Im sure that it will be hard to sell my Jr 5 channel that came with my extra easy for more than 50.00 but when If I were to sell the 9 cap I could probably get a good sell on it, if the ebay auctions are any indication.

Well getting off track sorta, in summary get something you wont have to upgrade in the future. Its saves money and frustration in the long run.