Just wanted to add I have been both salaried and hourly, and prefer hourly because it is fairest in that I am paid my clocked hours. The only downside in hourly I can see is that when money is tight they can ask us to go home early then we do lose money.

If you are going salaried my advice is to keep very good records of your hours worked/breaks taken etc in case you do have a dispute about unpaid overtime. If you do OT as salaried you should either get extra or time off in lieu.