Nothing wrong with an inexpensive ARF to get you into the precision aerobatics game....After all....you really have no idea what you are getting into ( unless of course you've been there before)...I started in competition this year, and agonized over what to build/buy because I wanted to have something that's " competitive" .
I ended up getting an inexpensive model (ARF 90 size)....powered it well, spent time trimming it out...guess what??? it's capable of more than I require for the next year or two...possibly three...also, the pilot has a lot to do with how the model flies...now that I know what's required, and surprisingly,I like the competition part too, I have ordered
a " spare" model, and will build it exactly the same as the first. If I happen to crash, it isn't costly, and I have a spare to fall back on...all for less than the price on a " good " 2M ship, which I don't need in order to be " competitive"...I do need air time though, and I think lots of airtime on a reasonably good well trimmed out plane will make me much better than lots of money spent on an airframe that I can't take advantage of yet.....we don't all NEED to drive a Rolls Royce to get to work in the morning. yes I see myself down the road getting into a 2M ship, but my model definitely does NOT limit me , and I am getting better with each " round" flown.
Just my opinion of course, but it's workin for me