A great addition to any lighting kit, at a very reasonable price. Too big for hot shoe flashes to really take advantage of though.
If you are a beginner (or a pro for that matter) by all means skip the smaller umbrellas (unless you work in small spaces or do headshots with them). This is the tool to get. Keep it within 5 feet of your subject and use your flash barebulb and you can get light quality as soft as a softbox. Yes I said that! This tool makes it easy... and cost effective! At this size 5ft away this will cover a full body pretty well.[...]
If you need a basic umbrella to do different types of work, this one does the trick. The large size enables you to cover very large groups of people.