i'm beginner, arduino/xbee interfacing.

I"m Jaishankar, from India. Electronics and Communication Engineering student. I have decided to do a project.
I am a beginner in the arduino arena, and this is my first project.

a quick detail..
there's a compressor in laboratory in my college.
I have to transmit the "PRESSURE" data of
the compressor (and also set an upper limit for the pressure and control the compressor.) and view it in a computer kept nearby in the lab.

The BLOCK Diagram
compressor-->P TO V(0-5V) transducer --> (analog inputs) ARDUINO UNO-->XBEE SHIELD-->XBEE A ---------------------------- XBEE B-->PC(view pressure values in the computer).

for this i've decided to buy

  1. ARDUINO UNO
  2. ARDUINO XBEE SHIELD(with module)
  3. XBEE EXPLORER USB(with module)

do u recommend a freeduino board? (are they really as good as arduino uno boards?)

Please help me out to get started (some links or book/videos/websites suggestions would really be helpful for me).
and also if you're into a habit of sharing ur project experiences by writing blogs.. kindly post your blog link here. i'm sure it'd be useful for a newbie like me.

I have found one such board available
in basha technologies website. http://www.bhasha.co.cc/product.php?id_product=22
and there's also a freeduino shield they provide (with module). do u suggest me to buy that?