When I was a beginner I only bought basses depending on what my idols at the time played. This lead me to buy an Epiphone Thunderbird, Warwick Rockbass Fortress and an old Jackson bass. However, the only bass I had tried in a shop was a Mex Fender Precision and I really liked it. I almost bought a Dean spikey thing, but instead I bought the Fender.
Anyway after a ridiculous amount of basses, mostly Jazzes, a stingray and a Warwick (All high end and very expensive), I'm back to my £350 Mex Fender Precision as an only bass. Its the bass I would always recommend to beginners because a nice passive one is simple to use and you really learn how your technique adapts tone and feel, rather than electronics on an active bass or a jazz bass.
The VM range you're looking at are ideal, I'm thinking of a 5 string version myself. And hand size doesn't make a difference, good technique should sort that out.