I have not got experience of both, but I started with the 34C HD and it is a fine, well made razor which still gives brilliant shaves. It is a good balance of mild and aggressive. It gets my vote every time.
Started with a 34C, still have that 34C. I've owned quite a lot of others but it's been the one constant, that should give you some idea of what I think of it. It's just an all round good shaver, nice to hold, and pretty efficient, I still use one about 2 or 3 days a week. Finish could be better, see Merkur threads passim.
Hi, I'd recommend that you take up the kind offer above. I started DE shaving 6 months ago and ended up with a Merkur 34C HD and a EJ DE89. I like the Merkur but find the DE89 much easier to use and get a much better shave with it (my technique needs work!).
I'd put the money saved towards a decent badger brush. I tried a few cheaper options (Men U, Semogue 1305 and a Vulfix Grosvenor 404 mixed) but my badger made a massive difference.
Jagger 89l was my first razor (Scimitar is the same one). Well, what can I say - I got better shaves from a 100 year old great grand dad's open comb with half of the teeth crooked. Much better.
As previously stated - check Carl's offer (can't be that hard to google a good joke!) Although Helveticum obviously disagrees, I have had nothing but good shaves with my DE89 (actually, that's not true - but the bad shaves were down to me.)
I have the DE89 and the 34C - in addition to a NEW with BRW handle - and they are both good to shave with. If I had to choose between them now, I would take the 34C as it has a touch extra aggression but I learnt to DE shave with the DE89 and I felt that it hit the balance for that - effective enough while still being fairly mild. Given that, and it being cheaper too (though I don't know whether this is true for the BBR version?), I would say that the DE89 is the way to go. However, I think that either will likely be fine for you.
I've got an 87 and I actually like it more now than I used to. They're more efficient than we sometimes give them credit for, but yes it's a pretty good all round razor and shouldn't cause you any significant problems. And as underscore says they're great value, you're basically getting a beautifully finished Muhle for less than £20.