I got my orientation with my suit, for free. That's one of the benefits of buying from a brick-n-mortar store, if you buy online expect to pay for a class to orient you to the special buoyancy characteristics of a drysuit.
It all depends on what kind of diver you are as to what suit is right for you, if you believe that you only get the best, what you pay for etc you might want to spend more than someone else. If you're on a shoestring budget and only want to dive some fun dives in the NE then you can get into a drysuit for 600-700 bucks. These are as decent a suit as any other IMHO and not as costly should you find that they don't quite fill your need and want to upgrade later. A decent mid-market suit is going to run 12-1500 at a shop and maybe 1050 online (Divetank has some deals).
I prefer my compressed neoprene suit to a tri-lam, I dove both (borrowed from friends) before purchase. I felt the bag suit required too much air and clothing to keep warm whereas the neoprene keeps me warm even when I get wet. (You'll flood yours one day too). One thing to consider is the seals, latex will run you a bit more but they are much less susceptible to seepage, are cheaper to replace, and can accomodate most aftermarket dry-glove systems if you don't go for the factory-attached gloves. But I would recommend getting the factory installed gloves. I have the Si-Tech rings which work, but they're kind of high maintenance, am really considering the Vikings now. But if you're diving cold water like I am most of the time (35-45 at the bottom) wet gloves suck!
