Im new and I don’t know what to get I’ve seen them in use but never used one. 
are you talking about what products you want to buy?
Yes I am talking about what products to buy.
What are you going to be using VEX for? Can you give us some background about what you’re looking to get into? How much do you want to spend?
Answering these questions will help us recommend product selections.
-John
Just to play around and possibly do Science Olympiad.
Forget about doing Science Olympiad, They Canceled that event 
If you intend to actually get into Vex as a real hobby, I would recommend the Starter kit over the Vexplorer.
Well, it depends how much you’d like to spend.
Honestly the best kit we have out right now is the VEX Classroom Lab Kit. This kit has a TON of parts and should help you build pretty much whatever you want.
If you don’t want to spend that much, you could start with a VEX Starter Kit, and maybe pick up a few accessories (rechargeable batteries, tank-tread, additional metal & hardware, and the programming kit are all good choices depending on what you’d like to do.)
-John
For my opinion on what to buy, see Appendix A of this document.
The Classroom Lab Kit is now $699 (up from $549 listed in the document), but it contains a lot more stuff than the old lab kit.
Yolande
If you’re willing to pay for it, it’s a lot better value than the starter kit
Here is what you should get:
A. Low budget, less value:
-Starter Kit
-Vex Power Pack
-EasyC Programming Kit - Good Beginner Programming
These are what I consider the “essentials” of a starter vex kit; The starter kit for everything needed for a basic robot, the power pack because it will start saving you battery money FAST (for the radio remote and controller I think its 20? batteries), and the programming kit as it allows you the ability to do MUCH more with your robot.
B. High Cost, Amazing Value, Recommended Kit:
-Classoom Lab Kit
Besides the safety glasses, a VeXer is destined to buy all of those items eventually. You’ll spend overtime trying to earn money just to buy those. Its much more fun to save it all it once and then buy this, rather than the frustrating “oo i need that part now i need to earn more $!” Also, buying it now saves you 31% of the price.
I’d also go ahead and purchase EasyC along with it. Its $50 but definitely worth it. If you can’t afford EasyC with the classroom kit, then I’d go to the extreme of buying option A to get it.
You may even want to throw in the advanced sensor kit, if you like robot slaves… erm, self-decision making vehicles.
If you really can’t afford either of these options, one thing I will suggest is to NOT, I REPEAT NOT buy vexplorer. Its a cool kit, but you will eventually grow out of it, like trading cards. You can save $200 and go for the amazingly powerful kit. The only thing I find vexplorer good for is adding on to a vex kit.
Vexplorer is like an Erector Set/RC Car. You Bolt It Together and Drive It Around wireless-ly.
Vex (the Education System) in the BASIC KIT is the same as the Vexplorer, but will require more assembly time, but if you are into Erector Sets, then it will be well within your patence level. And that is just the beginning…
You add the Programming Kit with EasyC, and you will have just entered the world of Programmable Robots. Then you add some sensors like the Ultrasonic and Quadrature Encodes, then you can Program your robot to find the closest Wall and follow it for 10 feet, and then come back to the same spot.
You need to decide what your level of “complexity is”, that will help you decide.
The only really good thing about the Vexplorer is the claw, which you can buy separately anyway.
I think I found out that the starter kit is the best.:):):):)