I just want to find out if websites like expressphoto, trustedphoto.com, etc.
are reputable and are not just a trap

thanks

John,
This site's sponsors are carefully chosen by Chris (who runs this site) to ensure that they are reputable and not the type of company with shady practices. trustedphoto.com
would be a company that would never be a sponsor of this site.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/TrustedPhoto
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/news/news-120406001-njsuit.html

Check out the sponsors page:
http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors/
These are all reputable sellers. B&H's website is helpful as you can get street prices for equipment and info about equipment. It is a good place to start. The other retailers are also worth looking at for the support they give you.

Glenn has pretty much said it all. Please support our sponsors since they make DVinfo possible. And it's a cliche, but nevertheless true... there really isn't any such thing as a free lunch. When you see a company with prices that are way lower than our sponsors there just has to be something wrong.