The internet is one of the best things to ahppen to this hobby. Defintely use Google, local forums and clubs and most of all do your homework.
By looking around you can tell a lot off the bat. Any salesperson worth their weight would recommend something and instead of pressuring you to buy now, would love you to come back. What's the difference in dropping $200 today or in a week.
Take whatever info they give you and bounce if off the boards. You're going to get 150 million different answers, but many are going to be the same...look for these common threads for your answers.
I tell you I definitely have made about 5-10 near instinct buys and waited, came home researched and realized my money was better spent elsewhere.
That's my 2 pennies worth....
