Me again !!!
Sorry don't mean to monpolise this thread and I'm sure others will chip in on the radio as well, as a rule of thumb buy the best TX you can.
I tried the cheaper route and now have 2 TX's at home that are going spare so you end up buying the better unit in the long run but hopefully without wasting it on lesser ones that you then upgrade from later and are never going to get your money back on.
I bought the DX7 a few months back but did look at the DX6i this Saturday and in reality I probably could of done with that as it's an awful lot of radio for the cost !!!
I'd also look at the Extreme Flight 45" Extra and the Precision Aerobatics Extra 260 as alternatives to the E-Flight Extra when the time comes as some say the build quality may be better than E-Flights.