Haha, never heard anyone say that Hikvision is for noobs here, but now that you said let me clarify, the 2-line (3 in China) is considered their bargain/budget line and isn't exciting for hobby purposes in terms of ptz options or having good night IQ, 4-line is very respectable, but way too expensive. I like to compare Hikvision and their different camera lines to Toyota/Lexus brands. Dahua is the same way.
In terms of PTZ, depends how much you want to spend, but as you might be already aware there is nothing better then Huisun/Imporx 10x PTZ for >$140.