I disagree with the avicularia avicularia comment, if you can get a good size animal (which means $$$$$), most avics are a good starter. Aphonopelma and Brachypelma make great pets, but as they're very slow growing, they can be incredibly expensive for the newb. I paid ~$85 for a 4" b. boehmei female and that's about half what she was worth. Aphonopelma are similar in that respect as are all grammostola except g. rosea.
Please read what I said about A. avic. However, I think I should say that *s'lings" are not very hardy but as they get older, the likelyhood of unexplained deaths decreases drastically.
I disagree with the price of a larger A. avic. That particular species is not expensive, even for an adult female... of course "expensive" is subject to interpretation; while one person might consider $50 for a AF A. avic to be expensive, another would not. Now if we're talking sub adults/adult tarantulas in general, yes, they are more pricey than s'lings... that's a given with *any* tarantula, no matter what the species.
I respectfully encourage everyone to NOT buy g. rosea as most are wild caught specimens from Chile. Every petco in the country has one that's being poorly maintained in their store. Think about how many that is This is putting undue pressure on wild populations. Also, they're brown spiders that move like rocks and feed incredibly rarely.
I could not agree more with this statement, except the G. rosea being "brown" thing... they are not brown. Many Aphonapelma species are brown, but G. rosea are not.
Any genus besides avicularia, grammostola, brachypelma and aphonopelma will probably be aggressive or at the least skittish.
This is true in most cases and is generally excepted as pretty much fact. However, that too is highly dependant upon the individual tarantula and thus, should not *ever* be considered the rule without exception... case in point:
I also disagree with saying Lasiodoras are more aggressive than Acanthoscurrias, my Genic will rapid strike the tongs that I put into the cage, and he's pretty much the most aggressive spider I've ever had (including poecilotheria, haplopelma and pterinochilus!).
That may be true for *yours* but is *not* the case for all and to just make a blanket statement (disagree on the whole) because of *one* tarantula is, IMO, a bit novice and especially when discussing what tarantula(s) to get for a potential new keeper, this statement not only contradicts what you said earlier, but also puts forth a false sense of other, in particular, Old World, species that are repeatedly known for their aggression and/or deffensivness. Just because one spider will be more aggressive toward anything entering it's habitat than another is *not* an indication that said spider is more or less "agressive" than another and can cause misinterpretation on the part of a new keeper.
edit: also, almost ANY herp is a lot more work and time investment than almost ANY tarantula. I've careed for a few dozen spiders at a time and I'm still too nervous to try a ball python.
When you've delt with a few *hundred* for several years... then let's discuss difficulity... and aggression/deffensiveness.
I know that was not the point of that comment but seeing as how that was (in my opinion) a bit of a pointless, silly comment, I tried to make some kind of use of it.