Thoughts on Bitcoin as payment?

[killingstress]

Would people recommend Coinbase for a Bitcoin newbie? Seems to be the most popular platform to buy/sell but I've heard other ones recommended here. Are they essentially the same?

Stay away from them, from Xapo, etc. At the end, they are like PayPal, they can froze your money, delay the payment you want to do, ask to many question, etc. 
Check for wallets that you can install on your computer, that is really privacy. You don't need this PayPal wanna be.  Use localbitcoins or similar to buy them, you also have ATM that sell bitcoins in many states  ( you can google them, there is a site where you can locate each one of them ) .