Foolishly, I ordered from TrendTimes without doing enough research. It's only been 2 weeks, and they have one more day before they reach the maximum of their delivery estimate (and, unlike others' experiences, they have been answering the phone and responding to email, though refusing to provide a tracking number for what they assure me has been shipped, so I hold the slightest flicker of a hope that tomorrow I'll be retracting this post). After reading the threads here and elsewhere, it looks like that company is scam. I'll be disputing that charge as soon as the delivery time is up.

I fell for their scam because the package seemed perfect (too good to be true, maybe?). [link=http://trendtimes.com/drrchebabopa.html]This is the package I ordered[/link] (DON'T ORDER IT!). It seemed great: A pre-assembled helicopter "ready to fly", cheap replacement parts available on-line, and a simulator and cable included. Seeing as I'm pretty shy and hesistant (afraid even) to talk a local helicopter guy (there's one nearby, but why should I trust him?) about learning to fly it, I thought I could just fly the simulator lots, take the very slow approach when trying to learn to fly the real thing, and learn to repair it piece by piece when I (inevitably) crash.

So, after reading these forums and others, I now know that there are lots of you who think that fixed pitch isn't a good idea, that these inexpensive electric helicopters are not suited for beginners as they claim, and that I was a sucker for a too-good-to-be-true deal. So what's my next step?

(1) Give up? I don't want to spend $800 to get the RC helicopters I've seen recommended when I don't really know if I'll be able to fly it or even enjoy the experience of trying. While I think I'll have the dedication required to take it slow, it was a lot easier to spend a couple hundred then nearly a grand on it.
(2) Buy a transmitter and cable to play with FMS more before I decide? I pretty much figured I'd have to spend hours on the simulator to get consistent before I even attempt the real thing, but I know myself enough that not having that physical goal in front of me will hurt me.
(3) Find an alternative? Are there any? The dragonfly seems to be available many places for the same price or cheaper, but I can't find them on any "reputable" sites, and I'm a little disillusioned by the trustworthiness of random on-line RC sites now. Further, most everything that seems to be around the same price seems to be lacking the pieces that made it most attractive to me (computer hook-up to a simulator, pre-assembled, everything included).
(4) Bite the bullet and spend the extra money to get something of great quality? Not likely to happen, as I don't even know if I'll enjoy it as much as I think I will, and more expensive starter-kits lead to more expensive repairs.

I'd really like #3, but I haven't been able to find anything. While there are other helicopters that seem similar for around $150 more, they either don't include a sim cable, have also received bad reviews, or require assembly (while I'm comfortable tweaking somebody else's assembly, I don't have the confidence to build my own). I'd really like to stay below $400. If I love it (which I expect), but hate the copter (which is probable as I'm looking for cheap), then I can move into more expensive options.

Any advice?