I had a small rant on that a while ago …
Basically, I figured it was worthwhile to get the parts in one crate from OMTech, then proceed under the assumption I’d be doing all the required debugging. That’s worked out about right.
IMO, buying from a lowest-price seller doesn’t actually save any money in the long run (and adds considerable annoyance), but (in the laser market, anyway) buying from a highest-price seller doesn’t add nearly that much value.
Also: auto-focus works great after you devote some time to fine-tuning the thing. Not cranking the platform up and down: FTW!