After some thought and some long exhaustive (and exhausting) searching, I think I'm going to go with 4 Astir panels at the beginning. I like the fact that they allow me to be really flexible in my setup due to their size and they are not a repackaged chinese factory brand. I looked to the chinese factory sites but with the Chinese Lunar New Year and all, I can't get a response and the shipping times seem sketchy as well as the customs duties.
The Hans Panel looks nice and I am still considering them...if only I knew how to make a decision
!
Plant Phototonics would have been my choice if they only would respond to one of my emails (I also was able to score a 10% discount from a site they sponsor but am still awaiting the response to that email as well)
The customs duties were the only reasons I excluded Area 51(they only declare the value to be USD 99, but that hasn't stopped customs in the past from charging quadruple taxes and duties on that amount, cause they seem to know what's up) and California Light Works responded only once to my email and then stopped when I told them the relatively small size of my order.
I was tempted by the Dutch Passion offer, but, after further review, realized that I'm not lacking in seeds at the moment
...
So, that's my final (?) verdict...maybe I should stop researching so much and make up my damn mind.
Also, apologies to
viracochaDWC for my earlier rant...too much grappa at the time...