Beginner starting too cheap?

My personal choice would be to get a used one of the regular recommended list here or try getting an overstock “older” version. For example, whether you get the Mixtrack Pro 2 or 3, or getting the beatmix 2 instead of the mk2 or the DDJ-SB instead of the mk2 …. not that much of a difference for a starting DJ. Getting a 2-year old Denon MC2000 “tank” that has been used in a bedroom only …. not much difference to a new one, especially if you can find it close enough that you can test and play with it.
Buying a trade-in Reloop Beatmix 2 (first version) from a shop that took it in when somebody upgraded to a Pioneer DDJ-SX …. will serve you well.

They all have the same thing in common, a certain level of (build) quality and features, nice sound, good support, large user base (should you have any questions) and they will all last you through your starter days and if that is where you stay, they will last forever.

Even if you do want to stay in the bedroom (due to time limitations or whatever) I think you will outgrow the Hercules pretty quickly (no multimode performance pads, no dedicated filter, very limited FX control, no gain/trim, short throw low resolution pitch faders, (my opinion) not such nice jogwheels and more).

The others (used or old model) won’t break the bank, will do what is expected of them and are supported by many DJ software platforms. Be sure though to get the software/license number that came with the controller, even if it’s just an LE/Lite version!

BTW, the price is not that special for the Hercules. I saw Bax-Shop (one of the bigger European online stores) sell it for 119,00 euro down from 199,00.

Just did a quick scan of used controllers of the mentioned brands/models on our Dutch eBay version and you can find plenty of them in the 90-130 euro range. So you should be able to succeed in the same price range as the new Hercules.

I was looking at the regular one. With all the extra’s you mention it sounds like most of the needed features are there.

As for the pitch fader length, there are two criteria to watch, 1 is the actual length (longer is usually better) but the second one (and you can’t see that from the outside) is the so-called resolution. Two same length faders will be different in use if one has higher resolution than the other. Since I (clearly) don’t know the Air Plus model, I can’t say how those faders are.

Have fun with your purchase!