I haven't even got my proper kite in the air yet (tomorrow is the day!), so I'm not really an authority, but from what I've read:
For an instructional video I bought a DVD made by Prism. You can see some clips here, they're on Youtube as well:
http://www.prismkites.com/videos.html If you're buying the DVD, confirm with the place you're buying that it's the full DVD with a case and booklet, some places just sell the DVD in a cardboard slip.
Another instructional DVD is called "Trick or Treat" and it's made by Benson kites. It would probably also be good. Here's another great place for tutorials:
http://sportkiteflyer.spaces.live.com/For really cheap beginner kites, I'd try a Flying Wings Beetle. You can read a review here:
http://www.kitepower.com/reviews/beetlereview.html. Seems quite capable and tough as hell. It's USD$49. Another option is the Flying Wings Spider at $29. It would probably be similar to the Beetle, I think it handles higher wind better but don't quote me on that. Both are for sale here:
http://www.intothewind.com/shop/Stunt_Kites/BeginnerStepping up a bit you could try a Prism Hypnotist
http://www.prismkites.com/k_hypnotist.html, or a Flying Wings Silver Fox 2.3 or 2.5:
http://www.midwestkites.com/?mainURL=%2Fstore%2Fitem%2F1vm4d%2FIntermediate%2FSilver_Fox_2_3_STD_-_Blue_Color_-_Dual_Line_Sport_Stunt_Kite_By_Flying_Wings.html%3Fitem_id%3D1vm4dhttp://www.midwestkites.com/?mainURL=%2Fstore%2Fitem%2F1kghv%2FIntermediate%2FSilver_Fox_2_5_STD_-_Purple_Color_-_Dual_Line_Sport_Stunt_Kite_By_Flying_Wings.html%3Fitem_id%3D1kghv.
The Silver Fox is a little more advanced than the Hypnotist (yo-yo stoppers for when you wrap the kite, snag-free fittings and snag-free nose, and probably a bit more capable in tricks overall) but the Hypnotist is pretty much indestructible. The Hypnotist is a little bit of a tank from what I've heard and needs a bit more wind to get up. I wouldn't get a Prism Quantum (one step down from the Hypnotis), it's even more of a tank. I think the Flying Wings 2.5 would be my pick, I've heard it flys a little slower and is more stable than the 2.3.
A cheaper option than the Silver Fox would be the Flying Wings Insync. It's only just come out, I'm not sure if many places have it yet. But it has lots of the nice touches of the Silver Fox. You can see pics of it here along with other Flying Wings kites:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingbox/sets/ (Flying Box is I believe a company in Taiwan that hand makes kites and is home to some champion flyers and they work closely with Flying Wings).
Flying Wings also make the Acrobatx which is an older kite and sits around the level of the Insync or maybe a little below. Don't know much about it.
Another good option would be HQ kites, but I don't know so much about them.
I actually went the route of buying a toy two line stunt kite (for about $10-$15) and learnt to get in the air and not crash constantly on that. After an hour or two you should be whizzing around the sky with little problem.
Then I bought a Flying Wings Soul which is made in small quantities under close supervision at Flying Wings headquarters in Taiwan, and is among the more advanced you can get. So it's not a Chinese mass-produced kite like the Hypnotist or Silver Fox. But it's close to handmade kite quality for less than handmade kite price. I spoke to a guy at a local shop about whether to get a Soul since I'm a beginner or a Silver Fox. He said durability-wise they're basically the same, but he likes the Soul more for learning tricks because it transitions from trick to trick slower and is more precise.
If your kite line doesn't come with line, I bought line here:
http://www.intothewind.com/. They have Shanti which is one of the best you can get, the other being Laser Pro Gold. From what I read the Shanti is more slippery so you can put more wraps in it so that's what I went with. The better the line is the less it will stretch and the more responsive your kite. Prism spectra lines are considered "entry level" as I understand, and would be fine to start with I think.
I haven't used this shop but they have lots of kites so are good starting guide for prices:
http://www.midwestkites.com/As you can see, I really like the Flying Wings stuff. It's a good price, but still a well-made product. Later I'd look into higher quality or handmade kites like Benson, Blue Moon, Jest of Eve, higher end R-Skys, Flying Wings Soul, Prism Quantum Pro.
Some useful sites:
http://www.gwtwforum.com/http://www.earthwindflyer.com/resourceshttp://www.earthwindflyer.com/kite-reviews-articles/http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=760.0http://prismkites.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=news
