First thing, Eoin, is for you to tell us Yanks how to pronounce your name!
As for helicopters, yes they are "different." There are many prejudices in aviation, especially between helicopter people and fixed-wing people. Many misconceptions, too.
It is often stated that you must never remove your hands from the controls of a helicopter. This paints a strange image, and it is not entirely correct. To be sure, there are times when the helicopter needs it's controls attended to full-time. But not always. Properly set up in cruise (you know, if you're going somewhere), you can sit back and relax and enjoy the view just as any airplane pilot does. Most helicopters have a cyclic stick-trim system or a friction adjustment that will keep the stick from moving without input. If the day is not unbearably bumpy, a "sweet-spot" trim-location can usually be found and the ship will run along in a groove, more or less. No helicopter will ever be as naturally stable as a fixed-wing, but neither does every one try to turn themselves upside-down when you release the cyclic.
My first question would be: What do you intend to *do* with the helicopter? Despite what you may fantasize about, helicopters cannot simply land wherever they like. Sure, they can operate "off-airport," but these operations must be set up in advance, which limits the spur-of-the-moment ability to land at that Burger King down there for a Whopper Meal. (Never mind how dangerous that would be.)
If you plan on self-hiring (renting), do not expect that any operator will allow you to do a lot of off-airport stuff, if any. Most will be VERY leery about letting rentors do such risky things.
Even more so than airplanes, helicopters are extremely fuel-critical all the time. Even full-fuel in a helicopter isn't very much (most have trouble staying in the air for three hours.) And unless you plan on flying solo, don't plan on topping-off the tanks. If you fill all the seats *and* take along some baggage, you won't be going very far. Finding fuel when doing a lot of off-airport stuff is a big problem for us commercial guys. We never stray far from a fuel source (i.e. airport).
Oops, did I say baggage in that last paragraph? Small, two-seat helicopters have *NO* space for baggage. The R-22 has a tiny amount of space underneath the seats, but that's usually taken up by crap (oil, tools, etc). The four-seat R-44 has four underseat bins. Leave the Louis Vuitton stuff at home and put your stuff in knapsacks. Small knapsacks. The five-seat, turbine-powered Bell 206 has a decent baggage boot, but nobody is going to rent you one of those. And no, a 206 is not "double" the cost of your beloved Archer or Warrior. Multiply by about five. Maybe six.
The bottom line to all of this is that if you get a PPL-H and do not buy your own helicopter, you'll be forced to rent. And the helicopters you rent will be small, two-seaters. And if you rent, you'll be forced to operate from and to airports. And if you're operating from and to airports, you might as well be flying an air-plane.
Yes, helicopters are fun, challenging and rewarding. Mastering the skill is an achievement of which you can be justifiably proud. But a PPL-H is of VERY limited use...unless you like to spend oodles of money hovering around an airfield. Once you're up and flying, it's an aircraft like any other....well...slower, less stable, thirstier and less comfortable, but other than that, just like any other.
Stick to airplanes. They're more bang for the buck and you can actually do stuff with them.