I have a nice Dovo, a nice Jowika, a nice Wostenholm, and a nice generic razor. But my first straight razor came from our classifieds. Don't get hung up over name brands at this time. Get yourself a 5/8 or 6/8. Our members have reputations to keep so you will not be getting a piece of junk. Rather, it will be a good razor at great price. Once you start with something like that you will be in a far better position to decide what you really want. I'm not trying to discourage you. But you should try something a lot less expensive to use to figure out what you like in a razor...