Bass amp. first time buyer

[Bass-ic]

Hi all.
I am buying some proper bass gear for the first time. Needless to say, I dont want to spend thousands and it doesnt have to be huge or overtly powerful.
My tutor does have plans for me to play with a band fairly soon so it needs be be powerful enough to cope with that but also very usable as a practice set up at home as well. The band wont be extraordinarily loud.
I think I have the cab sorted, but I am after a small bass amp.
Because I want portability and not too heavy expense, I am thinking of either the Ashdown little giant or the Ashdown Superfly which is on sale at what seems to be an advantagous price at reverb Bristol.

Ok, I havent heard either yet, but thats mostly because i dont have the cab yet, but I plan to sort this soon.
Does anyone have any experience of either of these bass amps and if so which do you think is better.

At present, it could be said that it really wouldnt matter what I buy, since I dont play bass well enough to warrant something really special, and I suppose since I dont have a genre of music that I really want to play, I really could play through any old amp. But, I do want something that is a little better than that.
Your thoughts would be very welcome.
Cheers in advance
Matt

[steve-soar]

Avoid Ashdown small amps, they have reliabitity issues and configuration limits.
Get a Hartke 3500, no hardship to lift, or a, oh I don't know, try as many as possible, spend as little as possible, borrow, it's a mine field.
Took my 10 years to find a portable solution to my Ampeg SVT II.

[steve-soar]

Don't dis Peavey, they are great amps.

When I first started gigging in clubs and small venues, I used a Peavey Combo 300, then when I played bigger places, I got a Mark 4 head and 2x15 Black Widow cab, then an SVT stack.