I agree about the bare bones 36. You can pick one up from www.heli-fever.com for less than $80 usd. Than you can get the electronics you want that eventually you could move to another heli of your choice when the time comes for something else. One thing as previuosly mentioned that the 36 will need a brushless motor system for it to be enjoyable to fly and reach its potential. If I where to invest in some different rc equipment than I currently purchased which is a Futaba 7CHP with a couple recievers, I would have bought the Spectrum DX6 sytem instead. Technology got to love it.

If your new to heli's going with either a Trex or 36 you will more than likely encounter the same problems do to lack of flying skill and experience with helicopters. One isn't going to do better than the other in the hands of a newbie.

As far as quality goes I truthfully can't tell the difference between Walkera plastic parts quality and Align's. Yes I do have some align plastic parts to compare them to Walkeras such as a complete plastic tail setup that I was going to use incase I busted the stock unit, but of course I completely upgrade to Al stuff. Fit and finish of the plastic parts are literally identical aswell as parts stiffness. Nothing special on either brand, seems to be the same type of nylon plastic as both are equally stiff. [X(]

enough of my rambling