HT vs Mobile
First welcome to the Ham community. I think one bit of advise would be don't rush out to by the first thing that comes along just to get on the air. There is so much the amateur radio hobby has to offer that it would be good to look at several things to help in making your first radio purchase.
1) Look at what areas of the hobby are you interested in, such as just phone (voice), working satellites, CW, or other data modes, PSK31, RTTY and such, then see what others are using for those modes.
2) Look at the repeater guides on the net to see how many repeaters are in you area for the different bands.
3) Based on info learned about area repeaters you can determine wether or not a dual band unit would be a good buy.
4) When and where would you like to have a radio with you, at home, in the car, on hikes, ect.
For me, after considering the the above I purchased a 2m/70cm HT for my first rig as well as a spare battery and mobile antenna's for the apartment and car, all for under $250. And on a final note, the hardest part of this hobby isn't the cost of the radio's or related equipment.
It's getting the wife to understand why one radio, antenna, meter and so on isn't enough! That just like scanners each radio does a different job and that compared to the high end high priced rigs, the one you want really is a bargin!