The Yamaha and Gemindhart flute are definately the best two flutes to choose from. I have a Yamaha and I love how it plays. However, the Yamaha is made overseas and where the Yamaha flute is made, the tuning is a little different. The Yamaha flute is tuned to an A 444. In North America the instruments are tuned to an A 440. Therefore, the Yamaha is going to play very sharp all of the time. Although you can pull the head joint out much farther to correct the sharpness of the upper register of the Yamaha flute, the low register is going to play very flat. The Yamaha is very hard to tune and the person playing it must have a very good ear because of the tuning differences. I am actually looking to buy a Gemindhart now because I am going to study in college and possibly go professional. The Gemindhart flute is made to tune to the A 440 and is going to stay better in tune to other instruments than the Yamaha so the Gemindhart is going to be the better choice.

Oh yeah!
The solid silver definately has a better sound and tone. It darkens the sound and mellows the upper and lower register. A silver flute is going to play better in tune and blend with other instruments better than a nickel or even a silver plated instrument.
The open holes enable the player to tune and are said to give a better sound. You can get a flute with french arms which costs more and is just used for decoration. The offset G enables players with shorter fingers and/or smaller hands to reach the key. The B foot allows the flute to go one note lower playing a low B natural. Also with the B foot there is what`s called a Gizmo key. The Gizmo key is used for the high C, D flat, and D natural bringing the pitch down and darkening the sound of the high notes.
Some flutes have the gold lip piece. You can get a gold plated lip piece or a solid gold lip piece. Both are said to darken the tone, but of course, the solid gold lip piece darkens the tone more than the gold plated lip piece.
If you are a beginner player the silver flute or even silver plated offset G key flute with a C foot and closed holes is the best choice. Either a Yamaha or a Gemindhart but as I said in the other post, the Gemindhart is going to play better in tune than the Yamaha.