Welcome aboard!

Sounds as if you are off to a good start, but I'd recommend that you get a razor which has been professionally honed. It's likely to be a great improvement on a factory edge + beginner stropping. In the UK, Steve Dempster (at Invisible Edge) and Neil Miller (Strop Shop) will both do a fine job.

If you want another razor to learn honing on, the ebay sellers uk_merchant and taylors1000 both sell good razors. uk_merchant labels his sales 'not for beginners' if there are problems with the blades, all the stuff I've had from Taylors has been in great shape (YMMV, of course). The average price for non-shave-ready-but-not-rustballs, not-famous-name razors is probably around £20 - £40, so less than a new Dovo. Ebay is always a bit of a lottery and I know beginners are usually advised to stay away, but from personal experience those two sellers are the ones to look out for if you choose to go down that path.

Also, in case you haven't seen it, there's a library link at the top of the page, which contains a ton of useful info. The forum threads are worth searching if you have specific quesetions - a lot have been asked and answered before, and if you can't find an answer there are very knowledgeable people around here, so ask away.

Enjoy!