I'd say go with the Spyder or an Icon (spyder clone and really just as good just cheaper) over the Tippman. Tippmans are good guns but the upgrades are on the expensive side and a complete pain to strip and clean. The Spyders/Icons are very very easy maintance and cleaning and they shoot alot faster ball per second rate which is very good for speedball and woodsball. Check out
www.pbreview.com almost everything paintball related is reviewed here
www.paintplayers.com is a new but pretty decent paintball forum the guys there are pretty knowledgable.