My first CP heli was the CPP. I figure in 3 months I spend $400 repairing the thing. I find the thing to be a b#$%tard to fly. I'm in the process of building a T-Rex at the moment and kind of wish I had just bought that right at the start. Now, even though I have a really hard time flying the CPP and have decided to retire it because I was spending too much on parts, maybe it has been excellent training for flying the T-Rex. When I fly the Rex for the first time, I should have my answer. If I'd gone straight to the Rex, maybe I would have spend thousands on parts, not hundreds learning the basics. I agree that you might get bored (and maybe really frustrated) with the CPP quickly and to make it a really good flyer you have to spend a lot of money on upgrades, money that might be better spent on a heli that will last you for a long time before you start to feel the need to upgrade.

BTW, I've been flying Real Flight G.3 and find it awesome for learning side and nose in hovering. However, be aware that flying the helis on the sim it a lot easier than real life.