A current student of mine, Planer, is learning on a NextStar. He's doing quite will and did his first landing on his 11th flight. He got a Pulse XT PNP for his next plane. When the weather clears and we have a nice day I'll do the maiden on it. I've flown the 4* before, but not the Pulse so I'm looking forward to the maiden on this one. Hmmm........I'm thinking now it may take him a bit longer to solo and his Pulse may require extensive flight testing before its ready for him to fly...............
BigEd - while I don't want get into the Pulse vs. 4* mix - they both have a good reputation, the current favorite in the stable is my 1970's design King Kobra, and ya can't have one unless ya build it!

I hear exactly where you're coming from with the older kits. I highly recommend the Sig Kavalier as a great second plane and first kit.
Hogflyer