About the hydro shops,

I paid about 3 times more for my light from a local hydro shop than what I could have if I bought the equipment off the internet.

Here is what you get when you pay hydro-shop prices:
-Immediate delivery
-No paper trail if you pay cash
-Somewhere to return the product if it is faulty or doesn't meet your needs (you DID save the receipt, didn't you?)
-A variety of products from which to choose to best meet your needs
-Instance, direct advice from the salesman to help you pick the correct products for you.

So, it's a tradeoff...spend more time, take a bigger risk (returns, product's suitability, etc.), but spend less cash if buying off internet, versus, spend more money, less time and have a much better chance of getting the right product for you the first time.

So, if you have the cash, I say buy locally. At the very least you are supporting local businesses. And in the age of big-box retailers and international corporations which are destroying the cultures of the world, anything we can do to preserve our culture is a good thing!