Hey Mike,

Welcome to this great hobby.  I'm sure you'll get a ton of opinions.

Depending on what you want and your budget, I'd go for the 590 or the 
Ts-2000.  The 570 is nice, but is discontinued and a bit outdated.

The 480Sat and the 590 are similar in that they have excellent accessibility 
with the VGS1 optional voice board.  They both run 160-6 with 60 meters, and 
they both have internal tuners.  The interface capabilities and filtering 
and receiver dynamic range are much improved on the TS-590, so if you can 
afford the extra money, it is well worth the cost, in my opinion.  Also, the 
590 has the meter readout accessible, while the 480 does not.

As an option, let me throw out the Ts-2000 for your consideration.  If you 
want a rig-in-a-box, this is the one with almost any feature you need.  The 
receiver performance and filtering aren't quite as good as the 590, but it 
is a bit cheaper.  Also, it isn't quite as accessible, as some of the 
settings like mike level, power level don't speak, but the knob you adjust 
them with is detented and it beeps at the min and max levels so you can 
determine where they are set.  In addition to Hf, you get 144MHz 70CM 
coverage all mode at 100 watts on 2 meters and 50 watts on 70 Cm, it also 
has a satellite mode if you ever care about that.

Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.

Steve
Lansing, MI