Need help to buy first FPGA board!

Hi everyone,
I am newbie in FPGA; recently I decide to buy a FPGA board to study.
I am considering two boards:
1. Virtex-4 MB (DS-KIT-4VLX60MB) with XC4VLX60
http://www.xilinx.com/xlnx/xebiz/des...ondaryNavPick=
2. Virtex-4 ML405 Embedded Platform (HW-V4-ML405-US) with XC4VFX20
http://www.xilinx.com/xlnx/xebiz/des...HW-V4-ML405-US

My main target is to demonstrate some base-band demodulation systems
(or part of it) such as Wireless LAN, and DSP. Easy-to-use and popular
interface to PC and other board are also important.

Several things that I am really confused here:
-Price: Board 1 is cheaper. Correct me if I wrong, board 1 use
standard RS-232 interface to console, while the kits from Xilinx using
PC platform cable (adding ~140USD).
-Performance: the different between LX and FX. Number of gates and
slices in board 1 is larger than that in board 2. However, board 2
equips the embedded micro-processor, which may be interesting for
studying and demonstrate.

My feeling is that board 2 is just "a kit" and would be nice for
studying and demo, while board 1 is more like "a development board".

Please point out other things I should consider. I really need your
opinions.
I really appreciate that.
Thanks in advance.