Place to love and hate is Leisure Pr (http://www.leisurepro.com/) out of NYC. I see that's where you are from so you can always stop by and chat with them (but what sux is that we NYers have to pay tax since the shop is local). I have no idea how they price stuff so low. I bought some of my accessories from them. They are totally geared toward sales and sad to say I don't think any of those guys down there ever been diving. Savings on for example Suunto Cobra can be up to $300 over other reputable dive shops but I don't think you are getting any warranty or support but if you are willing to take that risk $300 is a lot of money to save. My dive computer, bcu, regulator I bought from Swim and Scuba in LI. I paid little extra but got great personal service and got hooked up with some freebees and made few friends. Another good shop is Kings County Divers in Brooklyn. Stay away from Paragon Sports since they are overpriced.

In the end Ebay has some amazing gear at low prices. Problem is that like with all life support equipment you need to get it serviced prior to use so sometimes the service price offsets the actual savings plus there is no warranty. But for a spare reg or extra gear Ebay saved me a bunch.
_________________________
Matt
http://brunerdog.tripod.com/survival/index.html