The cheapo's are just OK, biggest issue is that there is no power linking, so he needs to budget for some cordage as well. They aren't very bright either, price wise they are about $55 for 4 on EBAY. Operation of them is decent, but I had one lock up on me during my son's wedding, so all of my others were running from the controller as expected, and one of them under the speaker stand/skrim was stuck on a violet-ish color. Annoyed me, but I was having fun so I never messed with it.
From a controller perspective that adds a lot to someone just getting started. I have 2 controllers, a Chauvet DMX-50, and a Chinese knockoff from EBAY for $35. The knockoff works fine for basic PARS, but DMX programming adds a whole layer of complexity. I've also become fairly proficient at FreeStyler, but it has taken quite a while.
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