ECN is definitelly the way to go. But, there is one serious "but" to consider...

As a rule, a minimum deposit requirement with an ECN broker is much higher than with any other broker. This means you're investing and risking a larger capital. Can you afford it as a new trader? You have to decide.

Another major point: with ECN brokers you will, most of the time, find lot sizes of 10k (0.1 lot) or higher, which rises the cost of 1 pip to $1.
Again, you have to answer: are you ready to take trades with such risks? Will you tolerate a stop loss of, say 20 pips = $20 on a regular basis?
A professional trader would say "sure, no problem", but, as I understood, you're looking for your first broker and first live trading experience.
If I'm right, I would strongly recommend, first of all, choosing a broker with 0.01 lot option (10 cents per pip), so that you can start trading comfortably.
If you manage to find such ECN broker, it is the way to go, otherwise, look one level lower - at STP brokers.

You first trading experience will be mostly about getting to know what you want from trading and how you want it. So, even a dealing desk - market maker - may perfectly suit you; I'm absolutely serious. Just don't give them a lot of money... :)
Once you're more experienced and possess a winning strategy that's been tested over the time, you'll be ready to move to a new broker that meets your new higher standards.

Hope this helps.

What about Forex Club (http://www.fxclub.com/)?

This website says they are ECN (http://www.forexbrokercomparisons.com/)

They have a minimum deposit of only $10 and "you can trade without spreads and pay a simple flat rate of just $0.40 for every $1,000 lot. And, you get it refunded if your trade was not profitable." OR can use the classic system and pay with spreads. Plus they're a NFA regulated broker. I got kinda excited when I found these guys.

I'm also in a similar situation to G.Ramirez cos I'm a noob looking for a good broker. Ideally I would be after an ECN broker with a small minimum deposit and small minimum trade size. I found this on their site "The minimum trade size is $1,000. But thanks to the leverage of up to 100:1 you can trade $1,000 when you have just $10 in your trading account." So I guess these guys sound great... ecn... small min deposit.... small min trade size.

So does this fit the bill? Are they really an ECN? What do you seasoned pros think and what are your experiences with the company?

Yeup, ForexClub is a market maker.
Live chats with brokers are invaluable in this whirlpool of information :)

I don't know if there is any difference in data feed from those brokers, but I do know that if your trading system by any chance uses certain market hours for trading, you'll get different results, because IBFX platform runs on EST time while FXDD - GMT+2.
You have 7 hours difference!

I wonder where did ForexMeta promote themselves? Everyone is asking about it now, but:

Their Live chat is always offline, day and night.
Their ticket support system doesn't show the answers.
And finally their link to Client Agreement Terms is broken.

Go figure...

FXOpen currently opens ECN accounts on request. Min deposit: $1000.
They also offer Micro and Standard accounts ($1 and $25 accordingly), where you'll be trading with a market maker.

It is a normal practice to offer both dealing and non-dealing desk services. One should remember though to ask what kind of dealing he/she will get with a particular trading account in order to avoid misunderstanding.