Please post topics like this in the Spoiler Forum in the future. Some players may want to discover for themselves which ships there are and what their qualities are, and any answer to your question would spoil the fun for them.
Warning, spoilers ahead ...
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The Patriot wins hands down with regard to manoeuvrability, it can run rings around
any other ship and its agility makes it near invulnerable. The other light fighters are mostly equal (except for Starflier/Drake, which are noticably better than the rest, and Startracker, which is worse). The Dagger wins in all other respects: armour, weapon hardpoints (including a forward-firing turret slot), powerplant, cargo space ... The Bloodhound has a tiny bit more armour and costs $4900 less but otherwise it has pretty little to recommend it.
Both the Dagger and the Patriot are excellent ships that can fly missions anywhere in the civilized worlds and most of the borderworlds between them (perhaps excepting Omega-7).
In the thread
Truth about the Optimal Weapon Class (in the spoiler forum) there is a list with hull strength, powerplant capacity, weapon hardpoints, cargo space, purchase price and required level for all purchasable ships.
Thu Jul 17, 2003 4:28 pm 
And a cargo space extension, of course.