Oh this is a deep deep subject with more opinions than there are heli's to choose from
but that's what I love about this forum and these guys! A whole bunch of super great information.
Eflite can be a touchy subject around here even though we are all huge fans of the CX series of heli. Their parts are without a doubt alot higher priced than the competition. The quality of the CX series is not found in the CP series however some have had super success with the CP series of helis.
Some of us, myself included, Soloboss, BryFlyGuy,Gpach all have the Walkera #4/ Falcon F40 Fixed Pitch machines. They are a 300 class electric heli same size as an Eflite Blade CP. Being a fixed pitch machine they are a little easier to fly than the collective pitch helis. Very robust, can take a real beating, ship in RTF form for under a hundred bucks. Easy to setup and repair. Parts are super cheap and can be found all over the net. Local LHS support can vary, Calgary has nothing, I use the Blade CP main motors and tail rotor motors. Only real downfall with this heli it is a 300 class size and can be a little twitchy at times. Great stepping stone heli.
USHobby Supply is a super place to get heli parts, Michael is a member here on RCU and has helped us all out.
http://www.ushobbysupply.com/
One of the economy priced heli's getting alot of buzz around here is the Esky HoneyBee King II with a brushless setup. From what I have read
around here everyone that has one with the brushless setup loves it. And even some Trex owners are getting this as an addition to their fleet.
It's a 400 class heli, collective pitch so it is capable of 3D flight, loads of power, stability similar to the Trex. Ready to fly for under $250.00. Parts are super cheap and aluminum upgrades are showing up all over the net. This is a collective pitch machine and will take some work to get her setup and tuned correctly. But that is also part of the fun of heli's.
http://jaghobbies.com/rc_planes/ek1h-e016a_cart.htm
From here we go into a hot topic. Blade 400. for 500.00 bucks you also get a 400 class machine, a great tx, and a 3D capable platform, aluminum upgrades are on the way as well.
After this your into almost ready to fly kits that you have to build yourself. You will buy and unassembled airframe, then get all your electrics and a tx. This includes the Trex and it's clones, HDX, Diablo, CopterX. Super heli's however your looking at 800 to well over a grand by the time you are fully airborne with spares. This class of helis are among the best. Super powerful, stable and all the aluminum and carbon fiber you could ever drool over. I actually dream about owning one of these bad boys.
There are almost too many heli's out there to choose from, I could list more but I'm sure my collective brothers will fill in even more for you to ponder. My thoughts on a single rotor learner kind of goes like this. Yes I would love a 400 class machine however I would rather crash an 80.00 heli that is going to take 5.00 of parts to fix vs. crash a $500.00 heli that's going to take 20.00 bucks to fix. Once I've progressed to holding full battery hovers and fairly smooth forward flight then I'll look at the collective pitch machines. One bird that has really got me thinking though is that HB King II. Brushless bird for $210.00 spares as cheap as my fixed pitch machine. I would say this is the way to go. Power size and stability....all attributes we look for in a heli.
I'm super tempted to make this my next heli....I'm almost brave enough to say it's going to be :P