When it comes to RTF's, ESPECIALLY for a beginner, the first 5 planes you see here are the only ones worth looking at. The cheaper ones come with a throw away Tx and for that reason, they don't make the list. HobbyKing is cheap China import stuff, as is MOST stuff, but I'd rather have it re-branded by a reputable company right here in the US.
Now, I ordered the Cub when it was 1.2 and sans "S", whatever that means. It was $299 if I remember right, but it came with a DXe, which is almost a throw away Tx. When I saw they updated these new RTF's with a DXs, my hide got a little chapped.
The DXs is actually quite a bit of radio, it just requires a 3rd party to interface with it, like a phone, tablet or laptop. It's also a selectable radio in RF 9.5
The first 3 are ideal for a beginner pilot. I chose the Cub because I'm experienced and comfortable with tail draggers. And I'm telling you, the quality is there. I put that Cub in pretty hard, right on it's nose. Broke the wing off and crinkled the nose of the fuse. I recently painted it and it is a very well designed plane. I already know you're not going to get this level of design in a HobbyKing RTF and certainly not to be found in a VolantexRC or Eachines plane. The point is, design is worth something...it has value.
I ordered the Simple Cub, Power Pack C and the $40 glue gun from FliteTest, $176.17 shipped, and I will not have a flyable plane. I'll be able to build it, install some electronics, and then look at it...maybe free fly it. That's a good chunk of $ to have a non-flyable plane. Just need a Tx and Rx and batteries and charger....now we're WELL north of $300, which is roughly my limit. I just can't see spending over $400 for foam, no matter how well designed it is.