The Phantom is a great entry into Quads - it's my first as well, and very pleased with my purchase, and now I'm hooked!
really tough call on reaching it's capabilities, as it depends on what kind of tinkerer you are.
some are content with their Phantoms, others have since upgraded to F550's, but those are 6 prop monsters compared to the Phantom.- and significantly more than an entry level copter.
if you're more of a tinkerer and enjoy building things, I'd probably lean towards recommending the F450 as a first copter. it's not nearly as attractive, but it's basically the same exact thing as a Phantom, guts and all, but with a slightly larger wing-span (or is that called Prop--span?), and you can put larger batteries and props on it.
and you can start off with a 8 channel or more transmitter and fancier battery charger than what the Phantom comes with.
but the Phantom is def a lot of fun.