A Good starter is the Aztek. Pretty easy to maintain and comes in a lot of variations. Parts and supplies are easy to come by too as it's quite popular.
I'd go for dual action brush, they can be more difficult to use but yiu have a lot more control. As for the container I always use jars as they can be sealed after use so that you can retain the same mix for later. Paints, I always use acrylic. It dries fast, can be mixed easily and is quite tough when dry.