I would say that the $40 kit is a little excessive if you are just growing on a small scale (or if you don't have a lot of spores right now). The shaker kit looks like it would be great, I would buy one if it weren't on ebay. It just depends on how much you want to grow. Since it's your first grow, I would suggest buying the Shaker kit, it is less complex and should be easier to work with for a newbie.