Thanks folks. Between these replies and a LOT of research since I posted this, I'm staying far, far, far, far away from all e-tail resellers, and particularly those based in NY and NJ (where abe's of "maine" in fact is located). And given what I've learned, I'd encourage everyone to do the same. Go to
www.resellerratings.com and see what I mean: shady practices abound. Just to test the complaints (and with no intention of actually ording anything), I called AoM to make a product inquiry: everything people complained about is true in spades (product advertised not in stock, attempt to upsell to higher-priced model, attempt to rope into every accessory and warranty and shipping insurance under the sun, etc. -- and all with a level of aggressive salesmanship that I thought I was dealing with the Sopranos crew; hope they don't have caller ID to send someone to whack me!).
So when it comes to online electronics buying, for me it's still an authorized dealer with a stellar record like OneCall or nothing. And even then, I'm iffy on a physically and monetarily large purchase.
So again, thanks all for pointing me in the right direction. I'll be keeping an eye out for future threads regarding this kind of thing to "pay it forward" (and please forgive me for referencing THAT godawful POS "movie", which in its own way is far, far worse than "Batman & Robin").