I too am in the same boat as most of you 'mid life crises' boys, usual script, got into girls and big cars in late teens, gone full circle and now want a taste of the old rc fun again.
Most of the advice I'd agree with, you can make do with 27 meg radio or by a cheap 40 meg set off ebay (as i did cause as i had some food to buy that month too!) or off here, or if you want complete hassle free and the bank balance can accommodate go that bit further and get the 2.4 ghz, just finds an available frequency and that's it.
Batteries I'd agree if you're not intending to do Nationals for the rest of this season then li po i would suggest are far easier and as far as i can tell have no real negative. The main reason cars are quicker now is that battery capacity is not the issue it was back in those days and races are still 5 mins so consequently you can go as fast as you dare or as conditions allow really. I used to run a Tomy Intruder and a cougar on 1700 SCE's or even 1400 SCR's, and the problem then was the sponsored drivers had the advantage of the best cells etc. which then was critical because you had to choose your motor/gearing so as not to 'dump'. Now the playing field seems much more level, especially with control tyres at nationals as well.
I agree that brushless combos seem to be the answer, i went for 6.5 in my losi 2wd and it's more than quick enough, perhaps a little too quick really, you just need that little more thumb control than back in the old days, which i'm enjoying learning (slowly
). I don't think there is much betwen them in terms of brands but just get one that gives you the most options if you decide to go for a hotter motor further down the line. One thing I have noticed is that although the cars look essentially similar there are so many more subtle setting than there used to be and it's all a bit much for me to take in at the moment, but to be quite honest i think you could keep it fairly simple with a few basic set ups and let your thumbs do the rest.
I used to race at Bury from time to time too, on that old shale track that was later grass (that may be the wrong way around!
), they were good times. I'm sure i've got a couple of A final win trophies in my mums loft (probably when nobody turned up!
)
Anyway, as I've just done what you've done as have quite a few it seems, you know where to come for advice. Feel free to pm for any totally unbiased opinions.
Good luck and happy racing
Chris