AC-1 5 String Openback Banjo : Best beginner banjo choice?

This is a beginner's banjo. I've seen it suggested that because it is lightweight and durable, it could also be a second/travel banjo for a more experienced player, and that certainly seems plausible, but most of the people I've seen suggesting it have had a professional interest in people buying as many banjos as possible.

The problem with reviewing beginner's banjos is that they're played by beginners. Having had the Gold Tone AC-1 a week or so, I can truthfully say is it's the best banjo I've ever played. It's also the worst banjo I've ever played. It only really sounds good and banjo-y for a few fleeting seconds every so often, but that's not the fault of the banjo.

What I can say, and what I haven't seen elsewhere, is why I chose this and not a different beginner's banjo. I suspect the best choice of beginner banjo is the Deering Goodtime like everyone says it is, but it's also a hundred or so of your preferred currency unit more than any other beginner banjo and backordered to heck and back, so it was never really an option.

Ultimately, the choice comes down to the Gold Tone AC-1, the Epiphone MB-100, and the Recording King Dirty 30s open back banjo. All of these seem to be perfectly good choices - for what it's worth, I'd have picked the RK over the Epi if I hadn't gone for the Gold Tone.

The Gold Tone is a few currency units more, but once you factor in the price of a gig bag, which comes included with the AC-1 but not the other two, they're a wash in terms of price. You get more aesthetics with the others, nicer inlays, prettier tuners, a wooden rim. The AC-1 is utilitarian - basic guitar style fret board and tuners, no embellishment to speak of, and the rim is composite (that's plastic to you and me).

That may sound like faint praise, but it's the whole reason I chose this banjo. In this price range, savings are going to be made somewhere, and I'd rather they be be made on form rather than function. I suspect that plastic rim's going to last a whole lot better than a cheaper wooden rim, and it sounds fine. Well, just as fine as this beginner banjo player can make it sound, at any rate.