Ive been playing for 7 years now and I have had a number of "all in one" effect units. Ive been a loyal digitech buyer for 4 years from the rp-1 to the rp12 which I just sold on ebay.
Basically I came to the conclusion that most multi effect processors really mess with your sound, imo it hurts it. Ive since switched to individual stomp boxes. Yes its harder to apply effects then simply stomping on one pre programmed pedal but I feel you get more control over the effects and they are easier to edit, plus there are no limits as to how many effects you can run at once with stomp boxes.
For a beginner I think all in one units are pretty good cause it lets you get familiar with different things but once you get more experienced (or even starting early on) I personally would avoid processors. But thats just me.
If I were going to get an all in one unit though, even now, I would go for an Eventide Rack Processor, those things are incredible, unfortunately your last name has to be "gates" in order to get one cause they are rediculously expensive. But for a beginner I would recommend the Digitech RP-12... its easy (as far as processors go) to edit the patches, you have plenty of room to store your own creations and it has some other cool features. Just be sure to take care of them though, they arent too solid electronically.
If/when you get tired of processors, there are millions of individual pedals out there worth exploring, especially the vintage ones.
