I bought a non tuneable goatskin bodhran about two years ago - I thought that if I committed enough to playing reasonably well, I'd reward myself later with an upgrade. It really frustrated me at times until I got to know it - I think you have to have a much more "organic" relationship with the skin of an untuneable; you begin to learn to read the humidity, how much water to rub on (like lots if you want a dull/soft sound) how much stretching to do with the "holding" hand. I now enjoy it greatly - it has lovely chromatic tones (if I want that) or depending on tension nice crisp tapping/tones. Deer skin (in my experience seems to have a much softer sound - also good, just different. It's a good session instrument too, as it can be played loudly (like if the pipers all get out of kilter with the world, and a simple beat is required to bring everyone back into unison!). I suppose I might get a tuneable one day - it's not really a priority any more; unless an instrument is really bad, you tend to bond after a time. If you're just learning, I suggest you ask an experienced player trial it so you can hear it's reasonance and character.