Just bought the super delux 12" GSO from Andrews a little over a week ago. Arrived well packaged and intact and I had it out viewing that night, no worries. I too live in a "remote"area and I was a bit nervous about having things freighted to me. As it turned out, everything was just fine. Don't worry too much about finding technical support and advice - that's what IIS is all about.
Whether you buy local or freight in is up to you, but IMHO that decision should be purely a budgetary one.
