What would be more fun?

If you are a complete beginner then get a traditional figure 8 shaped acoustic ukulele. You want to learn ukulele get a ukulele, banjo-uke is a completely different animal from a tone perspective. Unless you want to learn to play banjo, but you did say ukulele.
 
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A banjo uke is neither a uke or a banjo. I have two of them and seldom play either. I also have banjos.

True, with a BU one can play clawhammer, but, for real clawhammer, he/she would need the fifth string. He/she can also play it like a tenor banjo but not in the correct tunings. Three finger or Bluegrass is also out because of the missing 5th string. So one is left with a little tenorish banjo that doesn’t really even sound like a banjo.

Ukulele tunes can be played on a BU, of course, but, IMO, they’d really sound better on a uke. :eek:ld:
 
I'd love one of those Duke 10 banjoleles!
 
Just get both. You will eventually anyway.
 
I agree to anyone starting out: - try to find a good quality conventional second-hand instrument in whatever size best suits you.
 
I have four suggestions:

If you are planning to play solo, definitely go with a ukulele. It's more versatile--banjo tunes will work on a ukulele, but much of the ukulele repertoire will just be too loud and percussive on a banjo uke. IMO you can just get more pleasing sounds and better dynamic and tonal control on a ukulele.

Don't go too cheap. You can get a passable ukulele for maybe $100, so if that's your budget, then by all means go for it. But if you can afford more, the increase in quality of tone, ease of play, and general enjoyment from playing goes up pretty swiftly until you get somewhere around $500, at which point the returns from spending more become less significant. A $300 ukulele from a respected maker will blow any $100 ukulele out of the water.

Have a professional luthier setup your action. Do not skip getting a setup, it can make a HUGE difference in the playability of your instrument. Setup refers to having your ukulele action tweaked so that the strings are at a comfortable playing height. Many brands of ukulele have insufficient setup at the factory, and so will not have an optimized action out of the box. Some ukulele shops offer a free setup, but I am skeptical of this as I have had a setup botched this way. A professional luthier will know what he is doing for certain.

"Second hand" is usually synonymous with "30% off." The finish on a second hand uke might not be perfect, though in my experience it is often nearly so. If you can overlook a few scratches, better sound and better touch can be had for less on the used market.
 
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True, with a BU one can play clawhammer, but, for real clawhammer, he/she would need the fifth string. He/she can also play it like a tenor banjo but not in the correct tunings. Three finger or Bluegrass is also out because of the missing 5th string. So one is left with a little tenorish banjo that doesn’t really even sound like a banjo.

Seems like you could make a similar argument against a uke in favor of a guitar. They are different instruments as anyone here knows. I would think that a banjo uke should also be viewed differently than a banjo.

For those of you who actually play banjo ukes: My initial thought is that a banjo uke should be played fingerstyle rather than strummed. Is that a reasonable assumption?
 
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