Area10 said...
Buy used. What you will want will quickly change anyway as you progress, you will be able to afford a better board than buying new, and you won't have to worry about depreciation, or getting that first ding.
Often you can get good deals on ex-rental boards at the end of season from hire places.
We did want secondhand at first but in Adelaide it's really hard to find them in good condition and to get someone to ship a secondhand one from interstate was proving to costly. The hire places around here aren't selling good secondhand ones either - or they're charging too close to the new price :-)