I would not buy a cheap, no-name tent. If you want a good camping experience, you want to check a few boxes:
- Big enough for the number of people to sleep, change clothes, etc. And think about ease of entry and exit.
- Easy to set up and take down and practice doing so before going camping. The last thing you want to be doing is trying to decipher how to set up your tent in the dark and/or rain.
- It needs to keep you dry! Many cheap tents will not keep you dry if it rains. Want a terrible camping experience? Sleep in a leaky tent in the rain. Or a tent with an inadequate rain fly where a light breeze blows the rain onto fabric or screening that offers no protection.
- If you are going to camp in windy areas, it needs to handle that.
- I highly recommend shock-corded poles. I've had some tents where each pole is multiple separate pieces that have to be fit together but easily come apart while you are trying to set up. Nightmare!
Read reviews. Talk to the staff at REI or EMS or maybe Cabellas or Bass Pro.
IMO, any tent is an investment and a cheesy tent is a waste of money.
I am personally ready to buy a new car camping tent but have not started researching it yet. Right now, I have a 2-person backpack tent but it's not ideal for car camping. It's a decent tent (REI), keeps us dry and handles wind pretty well, but tight for 2 people and getting in & out is a pain for my 60-something year-old self.
I'll start my search at REI but will do some googling an read a ton of reviews before pulling the trigger.