I realised that all my reviews are of the lower end of the market and are most likely to be for a new scuba diver. So, instead of writing a review(since I had run out of money), I would write a guide. If you've found this site, that means you've done alot of digging.
The first thing I really wanted to warn people about is their snorkels. If you haven't bought one yet, great! If you have, well, just put up with it. The thing to know is that snorkels come in four different types. First is the snorkel, buy this, and I promise you will regret it for the rest of your Open Water, Advance Open Water courses. Second is the purge snorkel, which isn't too bad if you are going to be diving in super calm waters until you get your AOW(Advance Open Water) certificate. The third and forth are the semi-dry and dry snorkels. These are what you want. Contrary to its name, a semi-dry and dry snorkel is still going to leak water, but the real difference is that when a wave hits you, you aren't going to have a surge of water come straight down your throat(remember, with a snorkel in your mouth, you can't close it). The difference between a surge of salt water and a tiny stream of it could be the difference between going diving or jumping out of the water. Be mindful though, a lot of divers end up not using their snorkels. Does this mean, as a new diver, you shouldn't invest into it? That's not it at all. New divers tend to use alot more O2(oxygen) than an experienced diver, and to save what little air you actually bring with you, you want to switch your regulator for a snorkel. This could be the difference between one dive or two dives.
 Sourced From: http://www.scubatoys.com Purge Snorkel |  Sourced From: http://www.scuba.com Semi Dry Snorkel |
 Sourced From: http://www.leisurepro.com Dry Snorkel |
The second piece of advice I want to give to people is, don't buy your gear straight away. Try to use as many difference gear as you can and find the one that really fits you. Even if you are buying off the internet, that fine, but go to a dive shop that stock the product and try it on, otherwise, you will regret it. What I really want to recommand is you set yourself a reasonable budget and that it from their. A reasonable budget is around the AU$1200.00 for just your regulators, octo, gauge, computer and a BCD. I know, if you go on the internet, you can get as low as about AU$800.00! But thats not what you want. Here is how I see it. Most of my gear, I will be replacing anyway, so I would spend a good bit of money on either a regulator, BCD or a computer and which evers you did not pick, along with the gauge, should be a bit more lower end. I can't enforce the looking, and trying it on first rule. Everything looks good on a professionally photographied picture, but when it arrives at your door, it will be nothing like what you expected. After you get more experince, replace the remaining lower end items with more stuff you like, because you now know what they are. My advice is to spend the money on the regulators, preferably with 2 HP(high pressure) ports and lower end on the BCD and the computer, because one out of ten, you will find that you want a back inflated BCD, or you don't want it, or you want BP&W(back plate and wings) or you do want that jacket style BCD. The same goes with the computer. You thought you would never need a PC connectable computer, but later you might, or you find that you like to scuba dive and free dive, or that you want the computer with the buttons. You might also find that your LDS(local dive shop) is willing to fit your budget and you will be better off with the LDS compared to the internet, but be warned, not all the LDSs are so friendly to try and help you out. Visit as many as you can, as often you will find that you will be diving with your LDS and not a club, as clubs are quite up tight about their membership and will look down on you and your lack of experience.
Dive as often as you can before buying your gear, as you may find that diving isn't for you. Or you thought diving wasn't for you, but might find it exciting as soon as you are not restricted in an Open Water course. The fact is, I hated my open water course, as it was so rushed, and for some reason, I need to equalise even under just a few meters down, where nobody else did. This meant that I could either stay and equalise and try to chase the group or force myself to follow. Neither of those options were fun for me, but as I got to dive freely(assuming my dive body would wait for me), I found that I really did enough diving(just after I got over the fact I couldn't breath with my nose anymore).
Forthly, try not to buy second hand on the internet. They may look cheap but you need to service them, and you know how much that costs? Some of the dive shops I've been to charge upto a hundred dollars just for your first stage and your second stage regulator (not including your octo). With that kinda money, you could have almost bought yourself a new one with maybe some warranty. Don't get me wrong, cheap second hand regulators are great for praticing your servicing skills, but not for your use. If you must buy second hand, try to buy from a dive shop, who will have pre-serviced it before putting it up for sale and offer a short limited warranty.
Well, I hope this helped and good luck on your bargain hunting.
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