I went camping for the first time since HS and Basic Training last spring. I got invited by my BIL and his friends as a guy's weekend where the main goal was to burn as much ammo as possible, but I digress.
I had no camping gear so I had to keep budget in mind when I bought the stuff I needed, among which was a tent.
I got a Coleman Sundome tent because it was cheap - I got one on sale because of the color and it was advertised as a 4-person tent.
I got the job done, but if I had it to do over again, the main thing I'd have looked for is a tent I can stand up in. The height also made it a challenge to use with the cot that I used. Unfortunately I kind of ruined this tent already - in my effort to get it dried so I could put it all away, I accidentally melted the bottom in a couple of places when I put it in my drier, even on the lowest setting, so if I do this trip next year, I'll have to get something else, and I'll find some other way to dry the tent out before I store it.
What everone else says about size is true - take the number of people it says it's good for and subtract it by 1. And I like my space. I could have had another person in that tent with me, but even as a 4-person, it would have been tight with the other stuff I had stowed in there.
Also, the footprint of the tent doesn't tell the whole story. The Coleman 4-person Sundome tent says it's 9'x7'. Sure - at the floor. But with the sloping sides, once you're a foot or two off of the floor that space is a lot smaller. With the cot set up diagonally, I was still almost touching the walls.
If I do this again, I'll get a tent that's tall enough that I can stand up in the middle. That will make it easier to change clothes and to move around in the tent. I'll also get something bigger. Overkill, sure, but I'm car camping - not backpacking. If I was backpacking it would be a different story and I'd want something smaller and lighter, but if I'm car camping, I have the space so that I can get a tent big enough to be comfortable in.
Those are my thoughts on it.
I agree, I'm gonna want a tent I can stand up in or nearly stand up in. I'm a big dude at 6'3 with a bum knee, so I can't be doing a lot of crouching and kneeling throughout the tent. I've still been reading and researching daily.