You know I can't really say anything about the longevity of either brushed or brushless. I have one of both that are "out of service", both with bent shafts. But I found myself starting to push the brushed motors beyond their capabilities to get the performance I wanted. There is nothing wrong with getting a plane that dosen't have a brushless option, but I would plan on changing it as soon as I could. With a beginner it might be good to start with a brushed motor until you got used to the plane. Brushless motors can double the power with half the weight and I find that beginners use the throttle as an on off switch, forgetting that it has more than one setting.-BW