Spinnerak you are not very positive and i think actually quite rude. If you were stupid enough to hold a nightie then great, good for you, but dont judge others when you are no better and dont even know the person or their circumstances.
Note that Matthew has said that he is weighing up his options and not rushing into anything...I think his approach is better than others who would just get the snake without asking others who have kept these snakes.
Matthew I work with snouted cobras, cape cobras, rinkhals, mozam spitters, forest cobras including a monster 3m one and i have worked with red spitters(never again, some of them can really be nasty pieces of work) and all of these are on par in my eyes. Yes they may behave differently but they are all fast, aggressive and very dangerous. As a first cobra, never ever get a spitter, or an exotic. There are many people keeping coral snakes and they are easily available, but i think many would agree that they are nowhere near what a true cobra is like. A coral or shield nose can simply be scooced up or tipped into a container. A cobra on the other hand gives you a run for your money and requires experience with a hookstick.
Get a coral snake by all means, they are beautiful snakes, but in my opinion doing a handling course is a must and get your hands on a BIG aggressive molesnake just for you to practice with. I say this because molesnake can be just as aggressive as a cobra, they both have a descent strike range and they are both large and fast moving snakes.
Good luck