Its the warranty issue that kills it for me really.

Bought a Furuno 620 off ebay about 2 years ago..

Saved a bomb and have not had any issues !

As Till said warranty is the issue, but I was prepared to gamble.

I guess the only other issue would be not get after sales service - setting up, instruction etc...

I have bought a sounder and a plotter O/S.  No probs.  Saved a wad.  Furuno 585 and a navman chart plotter.  I have several mates who have done the same thing no drama's

went through koalagps.com which is an australian mob that imports electronics (plus other gear) directly from the US specifically for Oz/Nz.

saved 50% and even the extra year warranty that australian models give you doesn't really factor....

I bought an international model through them anyways so got all metric measurements.

Aussie dealers wanted $3000........  

There are many reputable sellers on the net that offer substantial savings on equivalent local purchase but the trade off is the limited warranty that in most cases will require you to send the unit out of the country at your own expense to be serviced. Also you may get hit with import duty.

I buy just about ALL my gear from OS unless it's a quick trip somewhere and I need something straight away then I will go to a shop, but with orders taking less than 7 days to get here or in 48 hours if you pay to rush it .

GO FOR IT.

No problems, got a Furuno GP-7000F and saved $1500 AUS.  Can always send back to the US for warranty if required, for $1500 could return it a few times.  Make sure you factor in the import duties as they are applicable for items over $1000 aus.  I have had my unit repaired locally (plastic connectors on back split) buy the Australian distributor no problem.  The issue would not have been covered under warranty anyway.

try here,

http://www.bonzerimports.com

have heard many good reports

Checked out that link for bonzer imports, and its great, I am emailing him to see if I can buy some stuff direct to try and save a heap of dosh!

I just did a comparison from Bonzer imports on a handheld Colorado and Prestige communications in Perth were $160 cheaper   At least you get the Australian version.

At least your not getting charged the lower conversion rate than what you see on the TV each night and a currency conversion fee etc.

I am just looking into the ins and outs of it all.

If nothing comes of it, so be it, but I will certainly be checking out what I can get locally, before committing to anything from Bonzer.

Because if I can get it locally for not much more, than that suits me better.

Perhaps some brands it makes more of a difference than others?

Back when I got my Raymarine A65, just before the dollar crashed and we were nearly on parity with the $US, it was actually cheaper to buy it from Challenge Marine than either Bonzer, Ebay or anywhere other online shops.

That has proved worthwhile as it did blow up once and Ryan just got it replaced, as well as offering me the loan of the store demo model.

Have purchased a few things from the US, some were that much cheaper,and some other stuff was just not available here.

Have never had a problem apart from my last purchase that went missing here in Perth for nearly 2 weeks. Tracked it online when it left the States all good until got here for local delivery. Got it early this week with no real explanation from local carrier as to where it was all that time.........