I have owned a couple different Jardini's as well as a silver and a black aro. Don't get me wrong, I love them. But I bought a $5.99 senegal bichir and have been more enthralled with it than all the aro's I have had put together. I read earlier that a person you know said 8-10 pic aro while 2-10 pic bichir. Numbers do not always matter. I love the act of fish keeping. I say try the inexpensive bichir (of course there are pricier ones) It's a stage in fish keeping that everyone should try eh? You can always switch. I can barely take my eyes off the little bichir which is not something I experienced with aro's and frankly have very seldom experienced at all.
I have to go with bichirs b/c they are more versatile, and can be mixed with most fish as long as they don't fit in their mouth. It is a tough one though, b/c arowanas are cool to watch swim and eat. I personally hate jardini's though(why pay more, when silvers look better). But when bichirs do come out it's a site to see.
For me bichirs win for being more accessible to the hobby. Right now all I have room for is a 55. I can keep multiple bichir species in that space but all the aros get too big. And no offense to aro keepers - aros look neat - but if I did have room for a tank big enough to keep an aro, I would'nt. I'd go back to keeping piranha without hesitation.
i will say that bichirs are far more readily available, and more affordable which i think adds to their being more often owned than jardinis and other aros