Guys,
I found this while searching and I wish I had seen this a long time back. Most of it would be here in the forum somewhere, but having it all together will be quite easy for a beginner. And the comparison is very professionally done. Makes it easy to choose a plane.
http://plawner.net/3/1st_plane/3select.html (http://plawner.net/3/1st_plane/3select.html)