I guess what I am hearing is that some of the negative talk can be associated with preconceived notions about learning on a tail dragger and or personal preference for high wing trainers. I work in Information Technology and every day I have to deal with people who hate any sort of change because it isn't the way they are used to doing it. Funny thing is that after a while they whole heartedly accept the change and when it comes time to change it again, they have the same grumblings. That's ok, part of life.
I'll continue to research different planes and then get input from my instructor.