OP: Good recommendations have been given. In addition, keep mind that most new divers just buy whatever regulator their local dive shop is selling, and from what I've seen, very few of these new divers end up seriously disliking their regulator. There is no such thing as a "crap" regulator--none of the widely sold brands is going to fall apart on you and get you killed, because such a manufacturer would have been out of business quickly. Those test results we see published in Scuba Diving magazine or wherever that measure and compare work-of-breathing and such are interesting, but many of us recreational divers cannot perceive much difference in practice. Regulators are simple mechanical things, and most are built to last a long time. They all work more than adequately for the majority of divers. My bet is that whatever you choose, you will be happy with it. That said, yes, there are nuances like diaphragm versus piston, but I would wager that most new divers who buy a reg are blissfully unaware of whether theirs is diaphragm or piston. I'm not trying to advise you to just buy whatever you see, but only to reassure you that you almost cannot go wrong with a reg from any of the widely available brands.
As for the seemingly never-ending (on SB, at least) "yoke versus DIN" debate, if you do a search on that here on SB you will find many previous threads that should bring you up to speed on what that is all about. I bought a HOG reg set, which has a DIN fitting, thinking I might "grow into" it as I ventured into more advanced diving, but I ended up getting frustrated with having to search for DIN-valve tanks in the Caribbean and eventually just converted it to a yoke fitting. The Edge line of products--same company as HOG--is geared toward recreational divers and comes standard in yoke. So I might as well have bought Edge to begin with.
As for the seemingly never-ending (on SB, at least) "yoke versus DIN" debate, if you do a search on that here on SB you will find many previous threads that should bring you up to speed on what that is all about. I bought a HOG reg set, which has a DIN fitting, thinking I might "grow into" it as I ventured into more advanced diving, but I ended up getting frustrated with having to search for DIN-valve tanks in the Caribbean and eventually just converted it to a yoke fitting. The Edge line of products--same company as HOG--is geared toward recreational divers and comes standard in yoke. So I might as well have bought Edge to begin with.