No, everyone else opinion is not worthless. Experience, however, must be drawn upon to make educated choices. You should know that I played the Starter set for 6 months before there were even any other clubs to choose from, some 500 rounds or so. The difference maker at that point was the introduction of the Tour Starter set, and more specifically, the extra distance of the driver. It wouldn't seem like an extra 5 yards would mean that much, but they do. In many cases, it allows for one less club to be used, increasing ball loft and softening the landing on the approach. In some cases, It can be the difference between reaching the green or not (hole#4 on Kiawah for instance) Considering the scramble stats of the average beginner golfer, the ability to 2-putt far outweighs the ability to get up and down.
The putter upgrade at that point was the Tour Starter putter, which if you look at the stats between the 2 really doesn't help all that much. Many players didn't even bother upgrading the putter at that point, some of the best players that were on here even. It was the extra distance off the tee that made the difference in the scoring.
Putting has its own skill set attached to it that varies from the rest of the game. Reading greens isn't something that a better putter will help you with. It isn't until a certain degree of skill is reached that longer putts, those of 10 ft or more, will be made with any regularity, regardless of the putter one is using. The ability to get on the green in regulation and leave shorter putts is what gives you the best chance of scoring well, and that is only accomplished with being able to hit shorter approach shots to the green. The only way to do that is to increase distance off the tee. That is why a driver upgrade is the one that radically alters scoring for the beginner golfer, not a new putter.