What material, ABS or PLA, would be recommended for a first print? I read about adhesion problems with ABS (and later about lulz juice) so I went with PLA. From reading around a bit more, it seems like ABS is more commonly used. What is easier to print though?
Actually in the reprap type machine ABS is used, but in other they are PLA only, like the Replicator 2. The main reason people use ABS is because its easier to finish and doesn’t require a fan. But others use PLA because it smells better, doesn’t need to be printed as hot, in fact you can print without a heated bed with PLA.
I have printed with both and I prefer ABS for the fact I can use an acetone vapor bath and smooth/shinny the print up.
We print far more ABS than PLA. The machines we ship are all ABS. But we’ve printed every material we can find too. 
PLA can make some very, very nice looking prints–the clear PLA looks amazing.